Linking languages

Question

I asked a question earlier about which language to use for an AI prototype. The consensus seemed to be that if I want it to be fast, I need to use a language like Java or C+

Answer 1

I have a different perspective, having had lots of luck with integrating C++ and Python for some real time live video image processing.

I would say you should match the language to the task for each module. If you're responding to a network, do it in Python, Python can keep up with network traffic just fine. UI: Python, People are slow, and Python is great for UIs using wxPython or PyObjC on Mac, or PyGTK. If you're doing math on lots of data, or signal processing, or image processing... code it in C or C++ with unit tests, then use SWIG to create the binding to any higher level language.

I used the image libraries in wxWidgets in my C++, which are already exposed to Python through wxPython, so it was extremely powerful and quick. SCONS is a build tool (like make) which knows what to do with swig's .i files.

The topmost level can be in C or Python, you'll have more control and fewer packaging and deployment issues if the top level is in C or C++... but it will take a really long time to duplicate what Py2EXE or Py2App gives you on Windows or Mac (or freeze on Linux.)

Enjoy the power of hybrid programming! (I call using multiple languages in a tightly coupled way 'hybrid' but it's just a quirk of mine.)