Talking to marketing people about Python

[rdsteph at mac.com]

Roy Smith wrote:

>
> Can anybody suggest some good material I can give to him which will help
> explain what Python is and why it's a good thing, in a way that a
> marketing/product management person will understand?

As a sometimes marketing droid on my day job (please don't tell
anyone!) I think you should point out that, while 5-10 years ago Perl
was more popular and widely used than Python, Python has been growing
at a much higher rate, and by many (most?) measurements, Python is now
more widely used than Perl for many types of applications.

These measurements are not precise, but all of the below show Python
catching or surpassing Perl today:

1. Number of newsgroup postings
2. Number of books published and sold
3. Number of universities offering courses
4. Number of commerical training courses and seminars offered
5. Number of job listings on internet job listing boards.

With Python, it's all about growth; the growth rate of Python, by any
of the measurements above and others too numerous to mention, is far
greater than Perl's growth rate. Any marketing droid worth his salt
should be impressed with high growth rates persisting over several
years. ;-))

Ron Stephens
www.awaretek.com/plf.html