Can somebody give me an advice about what to learn?

[Chris Angelico]

On Sun, Sep 30, 2012 at 10:58 PM, tcgo <tomeuari at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi!
> I'm really new to Usenet/Newsgroups, but... I'd like to learn some new programming language, because I learnt a bit of Perl though its OOP is ugly. So, after searching a bit, I found Python and Ruby, and both of they are cute.
> So, assuming you'll say me "learn python", why should I learn it over Ruby?
> Thanks!
> PS: I don't want to start a flame-war, I just want an advice if it's possible please!

I'm not going to touch Ruby, partly because I don't know it, and
partly to avoid a flame war, but here's some good reasons to learn
Python:

* It's a modern, object-oriented, high level language.
* As of version 3.3 (do make sure you grab this one, there's lots of
enhancements), it has absolutely correct AND efficient Unicode string
handling. I know of only one other language that can store "Hello" as
a five-byte string, while simultaneously allowing perfect handling of
the entire Unicode range.
* Python's syntax is clean and easy to handle. Be aware, though, that
some things are distinctly different from C-family languages.
* You get an excellent set of modules. Python has "batteries included"
(the standard library is extensive) and a whole set of custom
batteries on speed dial (check out PyPI).
* Easy networking support. You can write servers or clients for many
popular internet protocols with just a few lines of code. Simple TCP
sockets are also easy.
* Python is an open source project with a permissive license.
* Superb community support. You can ask a question here and get a
response in minutes. :) You're not going to be left hanging when you
have a problem.
* With very VERY few exceptions, your code will run flawlessly on any
of the many platforms Python supports.

Python does have some issues, though; you'll either appreciate the
syntax or absolutely hate it, and there's no efficient and reliable
way to change/reload code in a running application (not often an
issue).

I'm sure others will add to this list, and there's at least one entry
that someone's likely to disagree with me on, but there's a start!

ChrisA