Does Python compete with Java?

[Peter Hansen]

Maurice LING wrote:
> A. Lloyd Flanagan wrote:
>> Dave Benjamin <ramen at lackingtalent.com> wrote:
>>> Over the long term, I think Python's biggest key to success will be 
>>> that we will still be able to read the programs that we are writing now.
>>
>> No argument here :)
> 
> I don't quite understand, does Python have to compete with Java? In many 
> cases, the programming language used to write an application almost has 
> no relevance to the acceptance of the application. 

That's not the whole picture though.  One would also like to be able
to easily find programmers capable of working very effectively with
the language, so that maintenance can be performed, and enhancements,
and new projects using the same language.

This "competition" he's talking about is not really going on in the
users' minds, but in the developers' minds.  Imagine how difficult it
would be to get anywhere with projects if there were so many popular
languages that the odds of a given developer knowing your language
were, say, less than 2%...

> What I see is that Python and Java can be synergistically linked, for 
> example, through Jython, can be more constructive than competition...

That is yet another of Python's strengths. ;-)

-Peter