Why is Python a good first scripting language?

[Dennis Lee Bieber]

Tim Teebken fed this fish to the penguins on Saturday 19 October 2002 
01:17 pm:

> So what it comes down to is, what is it about Python that would make
> it the best place to start, when you only have time to learn one
> scripting
> language?  Using the criteria above, what makes Python preferable to
> its nearest competitors?
>
        Well, from what I've seen in the one book on Ruby I have... Ruby fails 
for the same reason I despise Perl... Python doesn't have the @$#%#$@#! 
markers for data items...

        I don't care how many times someone shows me how "hello world" is easy 
in Perl I just can't get it... APL made more sense to me, even if it 
uses greek characters (or ASCII "words" for same): 4 5 $rho 20 ? 52     
is something that can be understood (for the pure: 20 random numbers 
with no duplicates from a range of 1-52, convert to a 4x5 matrix ... 
IE, a numeric representation of four poker hands <G>)


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