python vs ecmascript

[Paul Rubin]

I've done a fair amount of Javascript programming in browser scripts
and also in a fairly big web application in server side Javascript 
under Netscape Enterprise Server.

I think Javascript (ECMAscript) is a nice language in somewhat the
same spirit as Python.  It has a few minor features Python lacks.
However, it's nowhere near as well developed as Python, it doesn't
support the basic facilities needed for organizing big programs, and
the implementations I've used (Netscape and Microsoft) are an order of
magnitude slower than Python (basically, the interpreters work by
constantly evaling the source code strings--there's no byte compiler
and I think no parse trees kept around).  

ECMAscript has the potential for becoming a more capable language than
it currently is.  Before discovering Python, I gave some thought to
what it would take to make a good ECMAscript implementation.  The
imagined end result turned out to be pretty close to what Python is now.

Basically if you're trying to choose between ECMAscript and Python to
implement something nontrivial, you should choose Python every time.
However, the underlying ideas in the languages aren't as far apart as
some people seem to think.  Python has just done a better job carrying
out the ideas.