Defending Python

Raymond Hettinger python at rcn.com
Sat Jul 9 10:53:21 EDT 2005


The posts do share an erroneous, implied assumption that the investment
in learning each language is equal.  Python has a strong competitive
advantage over Java and C++ in terms of learnability.  A person can get
up to speed in a few days with Python.  That certainly is not true for
C++ which is more of a lifetime learning project.

The negative reaction is likely due to the phrasing of the question in
choosing popular language X over language Y.  But if Y is easy to
learn, there is no reason for it to preclude X.  As a career builder,
it is better to be able to work with multiple languages.  So, I would
recommend Python to these folks as an easily acquired extra skill.


Raymond Hettinger




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