Hack vs Python

Overview

Python

Stacks262.8K

Followers205.4K

Votes6.9K

GitHub Stars69.7K

Forks33.3K

Hack

Stacks818

Followers169

Votes29

GitHub Stars18.5K

Forks3.1K

Hack vs Python: What are the differences?

Introduction Python and Hack are two popular programming languages used for various application development. While both languages have similarities, they also have key differences that set them apart. In this article, we will explore the main differences between Hack and Python.

Type System: One major difference between Hack and Python is the type system. Python is dynamically typed, meaning that variables can hold values of any type, and their type can change during runtime. On the other hand, Hack is statically typed, which means that variables must be declared with a specific type and their type cannot change. This static typing in Hack offers better performance and can help catch type-related bugs at compile-time.
Optional Type Annotations: Another notable difference is the use of optional type annotations. While Python allows type hints in the form of annotations, they are purely optional and do not affect the runtime behavior. In contrast, Hack requires type annotations to be specified explicitly and enforces them during compilation. This feature enables better code documentation and can help identify type errors early during development.
Concurrency and Asynchronicity: Hack provides built-in support for concurrency and asynchronicity through the use of asynchronous functions and generators. This allows for efficient handling of I/O bound operations without blocking the rest of the program. In Python, similar functionality can be achieved using third-party libraries such as asyncio, but it requires additional setup and dependencies.
Performance: Hack, being a statically typed language, generally offers better performance compared to Python. The type annotations and pre-compiled nature of Hack allow for more efficient code execution. Python, although slower in terms of performance, has a vast ecosystem of libraries and frameworks that make it an ideal choice for rapid development and prototyping.
Error Handling: Python has a rich set of built-in exception handling mechanisms that make it easy to catch and handle errors. Hack, on the other hand, does not have a similar exception handling system. Instead, it relies on type checking during compilation to ensure type safety and prevent potential errors.
Language Purpose: Hack was originally developed by Facebook as a strict superset of PHP, designed to enhance PHP's capabilities with type checking and other modern language features. It is mainly used for large-scale web application development at Facebook. Python, on the other hand, is a general-purpose programming language with a wide range of applications and is popular across various domains including web development, data science, and automation.

In summary, Hack is a statically typed language with strict type annotations, better performance, and built-in concurrency support, mainly used for large-scale web application development. Python, on the other hand, is a dynamically typed language with optional type annotations, a rich ecosystem of libraries, and a wide range of applications.

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Advice on Python, Hack

Thomas

Talent Co-Ordinator at Tessian

Mar 11, 2020

Decided

In December we successfully flipped around half a billion monthly API requests from our Ruby on Rails application to some new Python 3 applications. Our Head of Engineering has written a great article as to why we decided to transition from Ruby on Rails to Python 3! Read more about it in the link below.

263k views263k

Comments

Avy

Apr 8, 2020

Needs adviceon

React Native

Python

Flutter

I've been juggling with an app idea and am clueless about how to build it.

A little about the app:

Social network type app ,
Users can create different directories, in those directories post images and/or text that'll be shared on a public dashboard .

Directory creation is the main point of this app. Besides there'll be rooms(groups),chatting system, search operations similar to instagram,push notifications

I have two options:

@{React Native}|tool:2699|, @{Python}|tool:993|, AWS stack or
@{Flutter}|tool:7180|, @{Go}|tool:1005| ( I don't know what stack or tools to use)

722k views722k

Comments

Davit

Apr 11, 2020

Needs advice

Hi everyone, I have just started to study web development, so I'm very new in this field. I would like to ask you which tools are most updated and good to use for getting a job in medium-big company. Front-end is basically not changing by time so much (as I understood by researching some info), so my question is about back-end tools. Which backend tools are most updated and requested by medium-big companies (I am searching for immediate job possibly)?

Thank you in advance Davit

390k views390k

Comments

Detailed Comparison

Python	Hack
Python is a general purpose programming language created by Guido Van Rossum. Python is most praised for its elegant syntax and readable code, if you are just beginning your programming career python suits you best.	Hack provides instantaneous type checking via a local server that watches the filesystem. It typically runs in less than 200 milliseconds, making it easy to integrate into your development workflow without introducing a noticeable delay.
-	Fast Development; Type Checking; Built for HHVM; Type Annotations; Generics; Lambdas
Statistics
GitHub Stars 69.7K	GitHub Stars 18.5K
GitHub Forks 33.3K	GitHub Forks 3.1K
Stacks 262.8K	Stacks 818
Followers 205.4K	Followers 169
Votes 6.9K	Votes 29
Pros & Cons
Pros 1186 Great libraries 966 Readable code 848 Beautiful code 789 Rapid development 692 Large community Cons 53 Still divided between python 2 and python 3 28 Performance impact 26 Poor syntax for anonymous functions 22 GIL 20 Package management is a mess	Pros 6 Open source 6 Interoperates seamlessly with php 5 Backed by facebook 4 HHVM 2 PHP like
Integrations
Django	HHVM (HipHop Virtual Machine)

What are some alternatives to Python, Hack?

JavaScript

JavaScript is most known as the scripting language for Web pages, but used in many non-browser environments as well such as node.js or Apache CouchDB. It is a prototype-based, multi-paradigm scripting language that is dynamic,and supports object-oriented, imperative, and functional programming styles.

PHP

Fast, flexible and pragmatic, PHP powers everything from your blog to the most popular websites in the world.

Ruby

Ruby is a language of careful balance. Its creator, Yukihiro “Matz” Matsumoto, blended parts of his favorite languages (Perl, Smalltalk, Eiffel, Ada, and Lisp) to form a new language that balanced functional programming with imperative programming.

Java

Java is a programming language and computing platform first released by Sun Microsystems in 1995. There are lots of applications and websites that will not work unless you have Java installed, and more are created every day. Java is fast, secure, and reliable. From laptops to datacenters, game consoles to scientific supercomputers, cell phones to the Internet, Java is everywhere!

Golang

Go is expressive, concise, clean, and efficient. Its concurrency mechanisms make it easy to write programs that get the most out of multicore and networked machines, while its novel type system enables flexible and modular program construction. Go compiles quickly to machine code yet has the convenience of garbage collection and the power of run-time reflection. It's a fast, statically typed, compiled language that feels like a dynamically typed, interpreted language.

HTML5

HTML5 is a core technology markup language of the Internet used for structuring and presenting content for the World Wide Web. As of October 2014 this is the final and complete fifth revision of the HTML standard of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The previous version, HTML 4, was standardised in 1997.

C#

C# (pronounced "See Sharp") is a simple, modern, object-oriented, and type-safe programming language. C# has its roots in the C family of languages and will be immediately familiar to C, C++, Java, and JavaScript programmers.

Scala

Scala is an acronym for “Scalable Language”. This means that Scala grows with you. You can play with it by typing one-line expressions and observing the results. But you can also rely on it for large mission critical systems, as many companies, including Twitter, LinkedIn, or Intel do. To some, Scala feels like a scripting language. Its syntax is concise and low ceremony; its types get out of the way because the compiler can infer them.

Elixir

Elixir leverages the Erlang VM, known for running low-latency, distributed and fault-tolerant systems, while also being successfully used in web development and the embedded software domain.

Swift

Writing code is interactive and fun, the syntax is concise yet expressive, and apps run lightning-fast. Swift is ready for your next iOS and OS X project — or for addition into your current app — because Swift code works side-by-side with Objective-C.

Related Comparisons

Hack vs Python: What are the differences?

Type System: One major difference between Hack and Python is the type system. Python is dynamically typed, meaning that variables can hold values of any type, and their type can change during runtime. On the other hand, Hack is statically typed, which means that variables must be declared with a specific type and their type cannot change. This static typing in Hack offers better performance and can help catch type-related bugs at compile-time.
Optional Type Annotations: Another notable difference is the use of optional type annotations. While Python allows type hints in the form of annotations, they are purely optional and do not affect the runtime behavior. In contrast, Hack requires type annotations to be specified explicitly and enforces them during compilation. This feature enables better code documentation and can help identify type errors early during development.
Concurrency and Asynchronicity: Hack provides built-in support for concurrency and asynchronicity through the use of asynchronous functions and generators. This allows for efficient handling of I/O bound operations without blocking the rest of the program. In Python, similar functionality can be achieved using third-party libraries such as asyncio, but it requires additional setup and dependencies.
Performance: Hack, being a statically typed language, generally offers better performance compared to Python. The type annotations and pre-compiled nature of Hack allow for more efficient code execution. Python, although slower in terms of performance, has a vast ecosystem of libraries and frameworks that make it an ideal choice for rapid development and prototyping.
Error Handling: Python has a rich set of built-in exception handling mechanisms that make it easy to catch and handle errors. Hack, on the other hand, does not have a similar exception handling system. Instead, it relies on type checking during compilation to ensure type safety and prevent potential errors.
Language Purpose: Hack was originally developed by Facebook as a strict superset of PHP, designed to enhance PHP's capabilities with type checking and other modern language features. It is mainly used for large-scale web application development at Facebook. Python, on the other hand, is a general-purpose programming language with a wide range of applications and is popular across various domains including web development, data science, and automation.

Hack vs Python

Overview