Subject: Re: Python vs. Perl

From: [email-masked]
Date: Fri, 30 Jul 1999 10:08:23 +0200 (MDT)

>  Iraj Daizadeh:
> Hello. Perl seems to dominate the 
> chem(bio)-informatical sciences these
> days. An example of such dominance is
> descibed on papers describing the BioPerl consortium
> http://bio.perl.org (see, e.g., an article in 
> http://www.bitsjournal.com
> Bioperl:Standard perl modules for bioinformatics)...
> The question is why...why has python been neglected
> from its role in the informatics fields....
> 
> Your responses would be appreciated...Iraj.

Hello Iraj,

I think you'll have to note a clear separation here; in the bioinformatics 
(read sequence analysis as opposed to structure analysis) field, Perl had 
strong support from the start on. When I speak to bioinfo people here at 
EMBL, code reuse seems to be the dominant motive for choosing Perl.

In my eyes, things are different in the structure-related comp chem
field. Right now,  I see a lot of projects which use Python in favor
of Perl; for example look at Konrad Hinsen's excellent Molecular
Modelling Toolkit
(http://starship.python.net/crew/hinsen/mmtk.html). Companies like
Bioreason or Exelyxis are now looking for people with Python coding
experience.  People here in NMR at EMBL even dream about developing a
next-generation XPLOR as libraries to be used as Python modules. 

Given Python's excellent CORBA, number crunching and XML support, as
well as the Java integration and existing class libraries relevant to
the comp chem field, I think it's just a matter of time when Python
catches up. Tight integration with web application servers like
Zope (http://www.zope.org) could make a big difference in  writing web
services for the biocomputing community.

After having used Perl4 and Perl5 for years, I wonder where people see
advantages of Perl in the comp chem field? Comments anybody? 

Regards,

	Lutz
______________________________________________________________________

Lutz Ehrlich		 	http://www.embl-heidelberg.de/~ehrlich
				mailto:[email-masked]

European Molecular Biology Laboratory		phone: +49-6221-387-140
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