Python's simplicity philosophy

[Michele Simionato]

Douglas Alan <nessus at mit.edu> wrote in message news:<lcsmkuseex.fsf at gaffa.mit.edu>...
> The reason for Python's wide acceptance isn't because it is
> particularly well-designed compared to other programming languages
> that had similar goals of simplicity and minimality (it also isn't
> poorly designed compared to any of them -- it is on par with the
> better ones) -- the reason for its success is that it was in the right
> place at the right time, it had a lightweight implementation, was
> well-suited to scripting, and it came with batteries included.
> 

... and it is free!!!  ;) 

More seriously, the fact that it has a standard implementation and a 
BDFL ensuring the consistency of the language (not committee for Python!)
is also a big plus. Moreover, it got a good documentation, a very active 
community and a wonderful newgroup. Also, the time scale between the
submission of a bug (there are very few of them, BTW) and its fixing
is surprisingly short. This is something I value a lot. Finally, the
language is still evolving at fast pace and you feel the sensation
that is has a future. Probably the same things can be said for Ruby
and Perl, so you have a choice if you don't like the Zen of Python ;)

                   Michele Simionato