python vs d

[Russel Winder via Digitalmars-d]

On Mon, 2014-04-28 at 18:07 +0000, John Colvin via Digitalmars-d wrote:
[…]
> What features does python, as a language (syntactical preferences 
> aside), actually have to recommend it over D (assuming drepl* or 
> similar became full-featured)? This is definitely not a 
> rhetorical question, it could be useful to D development.

Principally there are a large number of users and installation and there
is a wealth of support for different user bases from sys admins to
quants. Python is a relatively small language that is easy to learn. The
esoteric libraries can be a pain, but the core libraries do what they
say on the can and are easy to use with a simple syntax. People can
write working, tested code quickly without having to fight the fascist
intransigence of a compiler.

Most importantly though Python has penetration in the market so it is a
safe choice. This is reinforced by the quants driving "performance
Python" so that it can play in the CPU bound arena as well as the IO
bound arena of sys admins and Web-related stuff. Ian Oszvald and
co-author are just bringing a book to market about all this driven by
the needs of the "data scoence" community

This is as much about perception and marketing as about actual technical
features. There is also an element of Python evolving to fit with what
end-user programmers who aren't really programmers need. This is a
self-reinforcing feedback loop.

Python doesn't have a "killer app", it invaded programming on multiple
fronts to create a perception, and indeed reality, of all-pervasiveness
as a programming platform.

-- 
Russel.
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Dr Russel Winder      t: +44 20 7585 2200   voip: sip:russel.winder at ekiga.net
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