Cult-like behaviour [was Re: Kindness]

[Christian Gollwitzer]

Am 14.07.18 um 10:00 schrieb Marko Rauhamaa:
> Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python at pearwood.info>:
>> Apparently Marko didn't notice the irony of suggesting that we display
>> excessive commitment to GvR
> 
> The object of the "cult" isn't GvR, it's Python itself.
> 

I agree with this observation and it feels quite strange to me. I 
regularly use three languages (C++, Python and Tcl), all three are under 
active development, and IMHO all of them have flaws, there are is always 
something which is elegantly solved in one system but needs more work in 
another.

But only in the Python community I have seen a strange "worship" of the 
language of choice, the believe it is 100% perfect. If something isn't 
available, then "Python doesn't need it. It's missing for a reason! 
You're holding ot wrong!" This opinion is not so prevalent in other 
communities. Of course, C++ programmers also think that C++ is the best 
language, but they regularly admit that Python does have an edge in 
clear syntax sometimes.

Typical conversation on this list / newsgroup:

Q: "I could need a ?: operator just like in C. Is there something like 
that in Python?"

A1: "No. You don't want it. It makes the code confusing. You said, you 
have a problem, you tried ?: - now you have two problems."

A2: "Are you crazy? You want to make Python like Java?"

A3: "Guido left it out for a reason. Guido's time machine has seen that 
in 5 years you'll wonder what the hell ?: means"

A4: "?: is unpythonic, because there is already One Obvious Way To Do It"

--------- in the meantime, PEP 308 passes ------------
A1: "Oh, nice, Python has invented a new feature! We're the leading edge 
in language development!"

A2: "All hail to Guido. In 5 years, you'll ned that, and then His 
Time-Machine has struck again!"

Q: "But isn't this the same as ?: in Java or C?"

A3: "Never. There is a HUGE difference! ?: is sooo confusing. But a if c 
else b, look, the order is reversed. This is much more natural! And not 
strange punctuation, English words. Python is executable pseudocode!"


	Christian