Brandon's abrasive style (was Re: What's better about Ruby than Python?)

[David M. Cook]

In article <bhs9bv$2hq4i$1 at ID-203719.news.uni-berlin.de>, Brandon J. Van
Every wrote:

> I ask tough questions about Python vs. other languages and platforms.  

Why don't you work on some tough solutions?

> Some
> people can't handle it.  Maybe they'd handle it if I diplomatically sugar
> coated it, but I'm not going to.  Things to irritate the "Brandon's a troll"
> crowd some more:

> - Python is not a good language for low-level 3D graphics problems.  C++ is
> better.

Not many programmers are going to write their own low-level 3D code.  Python
has bindings to 3D libraries.  For some specialized applications this will
not be adequate, but I don't think that is something worth worrying too much
about.

> - Python isn't a rapid prototyping godsend for every problem out there.

Someone said that it was?  BTW, in your experience, for which problems is
Python not good for rapid prototyping?  

> - GUI and tools support can end up being more important than language
> niceties.

Luckily Python has both excellent GUI and tool support *and* language
niceties.

> - Microsoft C# and .NET are strategic threats to Python's prosperity and
> vitality, if not survival.

Sounds like a good opportunity for someone who sees such a threat to work
out and implement a response.

> - Pythonistas should consider trying to eat Java's lunch, because they
> aren't going to eat Microsoft's lunch.

Sounds like a good opportunity for someone interested in eating Java's
lunch to work out and implement a plan for doing so.

> - Ruby has some mindshare among people with knowledge of Python.

OK.

> - Yet unnamed languages are capable of taking Python's place on the food
> chain.

I'll worry about it when they get names.  I like learning new languages.
Maybe unnamed language will be more fun than Python. 

> - You have to promote your language, grow its market share, to prevent that
> from happening.

Sounds like a good opportunity for someone interested in marketing.

Dave Cook