the python name

[Avi Gross]

Greg,

Boy am I getting sorry I brought this topic up again. Getting hard to take
seriously.

I am not making fun of the python name. I am making fun of the people that
want a GOOD REASON for choosing a name.

People generally don't care what silly name you choose for a dog and
certainly tolerate weird names for a racehorse. But they might question
naming a child Thingamajig Mistake Jones or Moon Unit, whatever that means.

Is python an elegant animal name for the language python once was? Sure.
Many animals are admired and on the cover of computer books. My PERSONAL
opinion is that it has become quite a complex language and might as well be
named "The Bronx Zoo" as it houses lots of different animating aspects. I
like it when a commonly used name is easy to remember and pronounce unlike,
say, 3CPO and R2D2.

I am now truly sorry I said anything since no matter what I say, someone
will find it wanting. When python grows enough, maybe we can rename it "the
Full Monty" and people will still ask why. The name is among the least
important things about python. So is the animal it also represents. But if
it pleases some people, good for them.

-----Original Message-----
From: Python-list <python-list-bounces+avigross=verizon.net at python.org> On
Behalf Of Gregory Ewing
Sent: Thursday, January 17, 2019 12:10 AM
To: python-list at python.org
Subject: Re: the python name

Avi Gross wrote:
> The question that seems to come up too often about the python name is 
> a distraction. In particular, it is answered fairly prominently in 
> many places as just being a nonsensical name because a founder once 
> liked a comedic entity that chose an oddball name, so they did too.

That may be how it started, but I don't think Python is a silly name for a
programming language at all.

There's a long tradition of naming things after animals that have some of
the qualities you want people to associate with them. In the case of Python,
it's not a particularly fast animal, but it is sleek and powerful, and its
minimal design has a certain elegance to it.
So, I think it's very appropriate.

--
Greg
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