title: IronPython vs. C# for small-scale projects
body: <p>I currently use Python for most of my programming projects (mainly rapid development of small programs and prototypes). I'd like to invest time in learning a language that gives me the flexibility to use various Microsoft tools and APIs whenever the opportunity arises. I'm trying to decide between IronPython and C#. Since Python is my favorite programming language (mainly because of its conciseness and clean syntax), IronPython sounds like the ideal option. Yet after reading about it a little bit I have several questions.</p>
  
  <p>For those of you who have used IronPython, does it ever become unclear where classic Python ends and .NET begins? For example, there appears to be significant overlap in functionality between the .NET libraries and the Python standard library, so when I need to do string operations or parse XML, I'm unclear which library I'm supposed to use. Also, I'm unclear when I'm supposed to use Python versus .NET data types in my code. For example, which of the following would I be using in my code?</p>
  
  <pre><code>d = {} 
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>or </p>
  
  <pre><code>d = System.Collections.Hashtable()
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>(By the way, it seems that if I do a lot of things like the latter I might lose some of the conciseness, which is why I favor Python in the first place.)</p>
  
  <p>Another issue is that a number of Microsoft's developer tools, such as .NET CF and Xbox XNA, are not available in IronPython. Are there more situations where IronPython wouldn't give me the full reach of C#?</p>