[dfwPython] A Few More Forrester Survey Questions

[Cameron Laird]

In article <mailman.7882.1179552121.32031.python-list at python.org>,
Brad Allen  <brad at allendev.com> wrote:
>At 10:22 AM -0500 5/18/07, Jeff Rush wrote:
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>>3) What is the value of the language to developers?
>>
>>    Yeah, a very common, slippery question.  Toss me some good
>>    explanations of why  -you- value Python.  Readable, free,
>>    cross-platform, powerful.  What else?  I'll synthesize
>>    something out of everyone's answers.
>
>Learn once, use everywhere: web apps, GUI apps, command line scripts,
>systems integration glue, wrapping libraries from other languages,
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>Wide range of scale: from quick and dirty tasks to large complex systems.
>
>Wide range of skill: accessible to beginners, but supports advanced
>concepts experienced developers require.
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>Practical syntax which emphasizes elegance and clarity through minimalism
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>Dynamic language features allow high level and flexible design approach,
>boosting productivity.
>
>Robustness - bugs in Python itself are rare due to maturity from long
>widespread use.
>
>No IDE required: you go far with simple text editors, but good IDEs are
>available.
>
>Good community support due to widespread use and open source nature.
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>Great as glue language, due to flexible options for calling external binary
>apps
>
>Mature ecosystem of libraries, both cross platform and platform native,
>and good options for accessing libraries in other languages.
>
>Professional opportunities: Python is in production use in a lot of companies,
>who realize it costs less than static languages and is more generally useful
>than PHP or Ruby. The only real competitor is Perl, which can be difficult
>to manage due to readability problems.
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Also important:  correct Unicode handling.