Why use Python instead of Perl?

[Jeff Bauer]

[ walterbyrd writes: ]

> 1) Is python good for system administration tasks?

I've used Python for almost a decade of sysadmin tasks in
very heterogenous environments.  Before that, I used Perl.
Before that I used bourne/csh/awk scripts (ugh).

> 2) Is python good for web development?

All our web development is done in Python.
 
> 3) Does python interact well with MySQL?

Most of our relational database info is stored in MySQL.
Andy Dustman's interface is dirt simple to use.
 
> 4) Do many web-hosts allow scripts to be written in python? Tons of
> dirt-cheap web-hosts have perl scripting, what about python?

We do our own web-hosting, but I wouldn't consider a web hosting
service that didn't support Python.  There are just too many
to choose from.
 
> 5) If I know perl, is there any reason to learn python?

Even before the first Python book was published, it took me
only a few hours to learn Python.  But nobody on this forum
can really suggest the best way for you to allocate your time.

Best regards,

Jeff Bauer
Rubicon Research