Interesting comments about Py on LT

[R.Marquez]

I read this comments about Python in Linux Today which went mostly
unanswered.  I was wondering what your opinion on them is.  The story
had to do whis some comments that Scott McNealy made regarding Open
Source.  The story can be found here:

http://linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2002-08-05-005-26-IN-BZ-DV

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The first comment about Python that caught my attention is this one:
http://linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2002-08-05-005-26-IN-BZ-DV-0017

It says:

Oh please. Python is a nice language and all, and has its uses, but it
doesn't yet come close to filling Java's shoes. Does it have standard
APIs for all of: database connectivity (regardless of DB), remote
method invocation, 2D graphics, 3D graphics, multimedia, XML, CORBA,
naming and directory services, messaging, distributed transactions,
cross-platform GUI, componentization (like JavaBeans), subsetting for
embedded applications, etc? (Sure, Python can do many of those things,
but where're the standard APIs? Of course, Jython can borrow
Java's...)

As for .NET, well, that's still a J2EE wannabe.
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The second one is this one:
http://linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2002-08-05-005-26-IN-BZ-DV-0035

It says:

Give me a break. Python is nowhere near being able to handle what Java
can. Name some excellent Python apps... I dare you. Name some real
Python apps that are the result of a real development team and not
just some pet project of a computer science student. You cant.
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Finally this one:
http://linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2002-08-05-005-26-IN-BZ-DV-0037

I certainly agree with you when you say "Python is nowhere near being
able to handle what Java can." (see my comment above to that effect).
And I'm not aware of any major pure Python apps.

But in all fairness, Python does seem to be carving a niche for itself
as an embedded scripting language in some high-end 3D modelling,
rendering and animation apps. I know it's the scripting language for
Blender, for example, and I've seen reference to it with several other
high end apps that some of the big animation and CGI studios are
using. It's great as a scripting language: it's embeddable in larger
apps, and you don't need a separate compile step. This is one area
where Java is weak.
Fortunately with Jython it's easy to combine Java and Python in a
single app.
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Any comments?

-Ruben