Long Live Python!

[Paul Prescod]

Kemp Randy-W18971 wrote:
> 
> So an interesting question is raised.  If PHP and Ruby are gaining
> acceptance because they address business needs, what needs to be done to
> carry Python in that direction?  And while Java may be slow, Sun pushing it
> for business solutions also gives that language acceptance.  How can Python
> become as popular as Perl, Java, or PHP?

Perl, Java and PHP all grew popular by solving a particular problem at a
particular time, better than any other language. (I'm thinking of system
administration/CGI, Applets and web page generation). Perl and Java grew
into general purpose languages over time. The jury is still out on PHP.

Python does not have a niche and is not obviously a niche-friendly
language. That means that it has a harder slog to gain adherents. On the
other hand, Python is not as dependent on its niche. I think that Python
is probably growing faster than Perl and PHP now that those two
languages have basically dominated their niches. Consider the status of
Tcl which is not growing much since other languages invaded the "easy
GUI development" niche.

Java has of course outgrown its initial niche but it is hardly fair to
compare Python to a language backed by Sun, IBM, etc. If Python had that
kind of backing it would be as big or bigger than Java too.
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