PYTHON IS CRAP

[Alex Martelli]

"Dave Cole" <djc at object-craft.com.au> wrote in message
news:m3vgx2q7zs.fsf at vole.object-craft.com.au...
> >>>>> "sp00fD" == sp00fD  <sp00fD at yahoo.com> writes:
>
> sp00fD> Look at the number of books available for java though.  The
> sp00fD> majority are specific to one topic (i.e. EJB or Swing, etc.).
> sp00fD> It's often said that the number of books available controls
> sp00fD> the usage of a language (which is somewhat of a chicken/egg
> sp00fD> thing).  For me that's definitely true, but in the negative
> sp00fD> sense.
>
> This "book metric of languages" is a interesting observation.

Indeed, it is -- but there's controversy here.

> I would say that the average Perl programmer has a pretty good
> collection of books about how to contruct executable line noise.  At

Doesn't match my empirical observations of Perl programmers.  Most
of those I observed seem to belong to the tweak-it-until-it-works school
of 'design': copy some existing script and tweak/run/tweak/run until it
seems to work.

> least one of those books would always open on the desk next to the
> programmer.

Most Perl programmers I've observed have very book-free desks (their
workstation's _desktop_ may have an average of 23 open windows, but
I think most of those are doing tail -f of some logfile or other, etc).


> Contrast this with the average Python programmer who probably doesn't
> even own a Python book - they don't need them.

Owning books, using books, needing books, are not necessarily
correlated.  Me, I'm an almost-caricature-level book-packrat; one
of the favourite family anecdotes was how I proceeded when, at the
age of 9, I decided it would be cool to make paper planes -- I went
around bookshops downtown and came back home with three books
on the subject.  I was the one with books open aplenty as I hacked
Perl -- or, of late, more likely an online reference or three open in
other windows; but then, I'll typically have a few books open as I
craft Python as well (AND online references -- I particularly like the
.chm version of the Python docs, what with the Index and Search
tabs so handy:-).  I sort of resent these interpreter thingies for taking
away the reading time I used to have with the compile/link cycles of
typical compiled languages -- the components I still build in C++ are
so small they compile/link in a flash anyway, with today's machines,
so when AM I going to get time to read?!  Fortunately I can still
choose to go around by bus and train, so that gives me some precious
hours of reading time per week.  You might be surprised at how much
reading you can pack into those minutes 'wasted' by waiting for
someone to come to the phone, too...:-).

So I've probably single-handedly raised the average # books/Python
programmers by a substantial amount when I took up Python, I
guess.  Oh well, I compensated by lowering the same average for
Perl programmers, since I don't do Perl any more...


Alex