Python v PHP: fair comparison?

[Bruno Desthuilliers]

walterbyrd a écrit :
> Larry Bates wrote:
> 
> 
>>I'd be surprised if there was more demand for PHP developers
>>than Python developers.
> 
> 
> Prepare to be surprised. From what I have seen demand for PHP
> developers is off-the-scale higher than demand for Python developers.

Anyone that knows how to program and understand the http protocol is 
already a PHP developer.

> If you search the job boards, then -IMO- it is only fair to not include
> jobs where the language is listed as an also-ran.

Then you'll find *very* few "Python developper" jobs.

> For example a typical
> sys-admin job will list about 24 skills, and python is often  thrown
> into the landry list. To my way of thinking, that is not really an ad
> for a python developer.

No, it's an ad for a sys-admin job.

FWIW, I've been hired as a web developer - not as a PHP or Java or 
whatever specific language programmer. Python wasn't even on the "landry 
list". Then we had to hire another developer to help me on a Zope-based 
project. We didn't hired a "Zope developer", nor even a "Python 
developer" - we hired a young C/Perl hacker with almost no prior web 
programming knowledge. Why ? Because he obviously was the best 
*programmer* we could find. As a matter of fact, he managed to become a 
productive Zope/Python programmer in less than two weeks.

> Trying to be as fair as I can be, my research shows that demand for
> developers where PHP is the primary is *far* higher than jobs where
> Python is the primary skills.

There are companies that believe that there are such things as "PHP 
programmer", "Java programmers", etc. And there are companies that know 
  the difference between a programmer and a code-monkey. The first one 
will ask for 10+ years of experience on a techno that is less than 5 
years old. The other will know a good coder when they meet one. Guess 
where are most 'Python programmers' working ?

> Of course, at best, that only shows the demand part of the equation.

Not even.

> There is also the supply side to consider. From what I have seen for
> salary offers for PHP developers, it may be fair to say that PHP
> developers are a dime a dozen.
> 

Anyone that knows how to program and understand the http protocol is 
already a PHP developer.