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0 pointsmruts7y ago0 comments

I dunno, Python is the epitome of a "meh" language. Guido has help Python back with his antiquated "get off my lawn" attitude since he created it.

The language itself is inferior in expressiveness and performance to almost any other modern language. The only reason anyone uses it anymore is the network effects of the library are very strong, especially is fields relating to ML and data science.

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9 comments · 1 top-level

sametmax7y ago· 8 in thread

Those libs did not come out of nowhere, and the language did not rise from 1991 to the today without inherent qualities that draw people to it.

Python didn't have any specialty like PHP, or an accidental monopoly like JS. It didn't come with a killer app like Ruby. It hasn't been made by a giant company like Go.

It's pretty much a self-made language.

anderspitman7y ago

I'm not sure if I'd agree. Python was pretty lucky to have numpy/pandas when "data science" started taking off a few years ago. It easily could have been another language.

sametmax7y ago

Numpy arrived in python because the language allowed mathematicians who were not programmers to get their job done and then do stuff that were not math related as well.

They don't have the desire to learn what a monad is, they don't want to type variables when exploring a badly formated heterogenous data dump, and they do want to be able to read the code of their intern freshly out of school once he leave without writing down any doc.

mixmastamyk7y ago

Pretty lucky to be an overnight success, 25 years in the making.

mrutsOP7y ago

There’s other languages that fit the same criteria that are much better: Scala, OCaml, Racket, or Haskell.

The inherent qualities that draw people to Python are that it’s so inexpressive and crippled that you can learn it in 30 minutes.

sametmax7y ago

What you call crippled, some call it sculpted. What you call inexpressive, some call it readable.

You have a lot of contempt to offer, I'll let you with it and get work done.

newen7y ago

Agreed. Most people who like Python seem to never have had experience with functional languages.

sametmax7y ago

Of course we do. We just happen to value things you don't. When you don't work with 10x programmers and experience the corporate world, you suddently see purity in a very different light.

mixmastamyk7y ago

Most people don’t have much experience. Any more middlebrow dismissal to offer?

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

0 comments

9 comments · 1 top-level

sametmax7y ago· 8 in thread

Those libs did not come out of nowhere, and the language did not rise from 1991 to the today without inherent qualities that draw people to it.

Python didn't have any specialty like PHP, or an accidental monopoly like JS. It didn't come with a killer app like Ruby. It hasn't been made by a giant company like Go.

It's pretty much a self-made language.

anderspitman7y ago

I'm not sure if I'd agree. Python was pretty lucky to have numpy/pandas when "data science" started taking off a few years ago. It easily could have been another language.

sametmax7y ago

Numpy arrived in python because the language allowed mathematicians who were not programmers to get their job done and then do stuff that were not math related as well.

mixmastamyk7y ago

Pretty lucky to be an overnight success, 25 years in the making.

mrutsOP7y ago

There’s other languages that fit the same criteria that are much better: Scala, OCaml, Racket, or Haskell.

The inherent qualities that draw people to Python are that it’s so inexpressive and crippled that you can learn it in 30 minutes.

sametmax7y ago

What you call crippled, some call it sculpted. What you call inexpressive, some call it readable.

You have a lot of contempt to offer, I'll let you with it and get work done.

newen7y ago

Agreed. Most people who like Python seem to never have had experience with functional languages.

sametmax7y ago

Of course we do. We just happen to value things you don't. When you don't work with 10x programmers and experience the corporate world, you suddently see purity in a very different light.

mixmastamyk7y ago

Most people don’t have much experience. Any more middlebrow dismissal to offer?

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse