Python does not play well with others

[Paul Boddie]

On 24 Jan, 02:50, John Nagle <n... at animats.com> wrote:
>    The major complaint I have about Python is that the packages
> which connect it to other software components all seem to have
> serious problems.  As long as you don't need to talk to anything
> outside the Python world, you're fine.

I think you're overstating your case here, since there is a lot of
Python code out there (much of it under the radar of many readers of
this newsgroup/list) whose purpose is precisely that of integration
with other software components. Having read what you've written
elsewhere with regard to SSL integration with Python, though, the
causes of the symptoms you're seeing are mostly correctly identified in
your own analysis.

>    In the Perl, Java, PHP, and C/C++ worlds, the equivalent functions just work.

We may have differing experiences here. Java stuff, in my experience,
usually needs lots of precisely versioned .jar files and then
frequently doesn't "just work". C and C++ aren't complete environments,
but there are admittedly some libraries/frameworks/environments based
on those languages which might provide solutions which often work
satisfactorily. I don't really want to think of the cocktail of
solutions available for Perl to solve any given problem, but people
often report that the quality varies somewhat between them.

>   That's because, in those worlds, either the
> development team for the language or the development team
> for the subsystem takes responsibility for making them work.
> Only Python doesn't do that.

And this is where I'd almost reach agreement with you. It's not enough
for the language to keep growing new features if the libraries are
broken or appear archaic, and this task seems to be outside the "core
developers" area of interest. Of course, people like you and I could
help update the libraries, although finding the time for making more
than just suggestions can be quite difficult, but the core developers
merely signalling that the libraries are a priority area for
development would probably lead to fewer people pushing their own
favourite syntax brush-ups or esoteric constructs, hopefully leading
some people (with enough time) to update, document and improve what's
already there.

Paul