Python versus Perl ?

[Roy Smith]

"EP" <EP at zomething.com> wrote:
> There are very very few cases where anyone is going to require 
> you to use Python

Conversely, it pays to understand when you are likely to be permitted to 
use it (or any new technology), and when you are likely to be forbidden.

Companies are generally the most conservative about "customer-facing" 
projects.  Something that's going to be shipped to a customer, or used 
directly by a customer, is not a good candidate to try and the the PHB to 
approve using something new.

The next step down the line is something which is going to be used by many 
people within your own organization.  If you write a tool in language X and 
want it to get adopted as a tool that everybody uses, don't be too 
surprised if the answer is, "Yeah, but who's going to maintain it, nobody 
but you knows X".

The easiest way to sneak a new technology in the door is on a project where 
nobody else has to use the technology directly, in other words, a tool you 
write to help you get your own work done.  When the boss notices that 
you're getting your stuff done in half the time most of the other group 
spends doing it, and you tell him it's because you're using X and everybody 
else is using Y, it's like waving dollar signs in front of his face.