Does Python really follow its philosophy of "Readability counts"?

[Bruno Desthuilliers]

Steven D'Aprano a écrit :
> On Mon, 12 Jan 2009 13:36:07 -0800, Paul Rubin wrote:
> 
>> Bruno Desthuilliers <bdesth.quelquechose at free.quelquepart.fr> writes:
>>> Why on earth are you using Python if you don't like the way it work ???
>> Why on earth keep releasing new versions of Python if the old ones are
>> already perfect?
> 
> That's a fallacious argument. Nobody is arguing that any specific version 
> of Python is perfect, but clearly many people do like the general design 
> choices of the language, that is, the way it works.

Thanks for making my point clear.

> *If* you don't like the way it works, and you have a choice in the 
> matter, perhaps you should find another language that works more the way 
> you would prefer.
> 
> On the other hand... Bruno's question is unfair. It is perfectly 
> reasonable to (hypothetically) consider Python to be the best *existing* 
> language while still wanting it to be improved (for some definition of 
> improvement).

And that's the problem : what Paul suggests are not "improvements" but 
radical design changes. The resulting language - whatever it may be 
worth, I'm not making any judgement call here - would not be Python 
anymore.

> Just because somebody has criticisms of Python, or a wish-
> list of features, doesn't mean they hate the language. 

There's probably a whole range of nuances between "not liking" and 
"hating". And Paul is of course perfectly right to think that a language 
having this and that features from Python, but not this other one, would 
be a "better" language (at least according to it's own definition of 
"better"). Where I totally disagree is that it would make *Python* better.

Also, my question was not that "unfair" (even if a bit provocative). I 
really wonder why peoples that seems to dislike one of the central 
features of Python - it's dynamism - still use it (assuming of course 
they are free to choose another language). And FWIW, I at least had a 
partial answer on this.