more information about python

[Micko]

Hello, I've just read thread why I should lear python and I must admit that I'm very interestwed to learn oppython myself. i have experience with C and C++ programming language. If I understood corectly Python is an interpreted language. What is advantage of interepreted languages (if there are any)? For example I write C++ code compile it, link it and then I can give or sell complete program (exe file). How to distribute interpreted language? Does that mean that I must share source code or what? I really don't have any experience with any interpreted language so, plase, do not consider this question a dumb one.
One more question: I know how hard (and platform dependent) is to write GUI interface in C/C++, does Python have better support for graphics?

Thank you very much

[shanenin]

What is advantage of interepreted languages

you can test your code immediatley, to see how something will work. Being a beginning programmer I find that very useful.

[vegaseat]

Python is actually compiled to a byte code and then interpreted. If you want to hide your source file, you can send these byte code files (extension .pyc) along with a version of Python called movable Python that does not have to be installed.

An alternate solution is a program called Py2Exe that binds everything needed, including the interpreter, into an executable file.

Python is a high level, very modular object oriented language. The syntax reads like prototyping. The interpreter is much more interactive than the endless compile and link routine of the traditional languages. This makes development of a program along with the required experimentation/testing easier.

Python's modules are imported as you need them. The ones that come with the language are highly optimized and many modules are written in C++.

You have quite a choice of modules for GUI development. Tkinter comes with the normal distribution of Python. It is very easy to learn and you can use it for simple stuff. Two of the other choices are wxPython and pyGTK. All of those are portable between Windows, Linux/Unix and the Mac OS-X.