Python does not play well with others

[Ramon Diaz-Uriarte]

I find Paul Rubin's arguments compelling and convincing. As just a
Python user (i.e., someone who has contributed nothing) let me add a
few comments along the same lines.

On 03 Feb 2007 18:31:03 -0800, Paul Rubin
<"http://phr.cx"@nospam.invalid> wrote:
> skip at pobox.com writes:
> >     Paul> Why would I expect your employer to solve my problems anyway, even
> >     Paul> if they relate to some module that you actually use?
> >
> > Your reasoning seems to be that Python should contain the functional union
> > of everything at least in Java and PHP if not Perl, Ruby and Tcl as well.
>
> I wouldn't go quite that far.  I think there are specific application
> areas, such as web server apps, where the Python advocates here on
> clpy pitch Python relentlessly against those other languages.  Given
> that context, Python's stdlib should try to match the libraries of
> those other languages in those areas.  There are other areas where
> Python doesn't get pitched as hard and the other languages have
> acknowledged advantages.  So it's ok if Python's stdlib gets less
> attention in those areas.
>

In fact, it is quite frustrating to operate under the impression that
"Python is good for X, Y, Z, ...." and then realize "ooops, it is
becoming a pain in the ass to do X, whereas language L does X just
fine". It seems to me that Python advocates sometimes (often?) get
carried away. DB "sure, no problem"; web-frameworks "who needs Rails,
we have (lots of) frameworks that do it"; functional programming
"Python can do all the functional programming anyone in his/her mind
should ever try to do"; etc.

Compare this to the, in my opinion, equanimous, fair, "advertisement"
one finds in the Erlang page or the recognition by schemers that
scheme is not the only game in town.


>
> > If you want to turn the Python distribution into a kitchen sink,
> > make the argument on python-dev and be prepared to shoulder your
> > share of the burden should your arguments sway the group as a whole.
>
> We've had this conversation before and I continue to think your
> reasoning above is invalid.  I'm not a Python developer, I'm just a
> user, and my volunteer coding priorities are elsewhere, as I've
> explained before.  Python's developers and advocates have a declared
> goal of reaching as many users as they can, and as a user I don't mind
> offering suggestions about how to do that, but my responsibilities
> don't go any further.



R.


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> http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
>


-- 
Ramon Diaz-Uriarte
Statistical Computing Team
Structural Biology and Biocomputing Programme
Spanish National Cancer Centre (CNIO)
http://ligarto.org/rdiaz