I’m a Python convert. I like it, I love it. Yes, I want some more of it. But…
I still kinda miss Java sometimes. Here’s what I pine for most often:
Standard Deployment
Oh, how I yearn for the days when I could ant deploy something and have it nuke a database, reload records, run my tests, war up my application, deploy it, and restart the app server. If I was using the right IDE, all at the press of a button.
Built in Interfaces
Unit testing is simpler when there are interfaces from which to extend fake objects. You also get an early warning if you’ve screwed things up, because the dang thing won’t compile.
Zealous String Externalization
I know the Pythonistas will shout YAGNI!, but I miss having people go nuts for externalizing strings. String literals are trouble. You’re going to misspell them, you’ll foul up capitalization (or have to .upper() everything under the sun). In the Javashpere, I was ridiculed if anyone spotted a double quote in my classes.
RELAX. I love python. It’s the violin to Java’s synthesizer. I just think each camp has something to learn from the other.
I’ve spoken to a few people, and we agree that you could turn a Decent Java Programmer into an Awesome Java Programmer by having them sling Python for a year or so.
