Why do you use python?

[Chris Angelico]

On Mon, Mar 21, 2016 at 3:49 PM, Dan Sommers <dan at tombstonezero.net> wrote:
>> So instead of treating programming like a plumber at a hardware store,
>> treat it like an artist with a canvas. You wouldn't normally see a
>> portrait done partly in watercolor and partly in oils - or if it is,
>> it's for a VERY deliberate effect. You'd more often see one style used
>> for one project, and maybe another one used for another.
>
> Both viewpoints must be tempered in order to create successful systems.
>
> I've worked on jobs where the tool or target operating sytem (singular)
> was chosen first, or specified as part of the "system requirements," and
> it can work out just as badly as a hellspawn hodge-podge of a solution.
> We've all heard the one about all problems looking like nails.
>
> It should, by now, go without saying, but choose the right tool (or
> tools) for the job, where "right" includes any number of things *not*
> related to its immediate implementation, and often includes some number
> of things *counter* to an obviously superior, in one way or another,
> implementation.

True. I'm not saying you should never use more than one tool, but that
every additional tool used costs exponentially in complexity. And
people who claim they should use any tool whatsoever usually use "I
know this tool" as the most important criterion in the decision -
which results in the worst kind of hodge-podge.

Possibly the best way to handle it is to have to justify every new
tool you use to at least two other people, preferably people who have
never used it before.

ChrisA