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"The Python Paradox"

I thought this essay by Paul Graham might be of interest to computer scientists, seeing as a lot of people seem to ask questions like "whats the best language to learn", "which languages will i learn at uni" etc.

In a recent talk I said something that upset a lot of people: that you could get smarter programmers to work on a Python project than you could to work on a Java project.


He also mentions that this is of course not limited to python. Something i completely agree with. And also that Java or C++ are not bad languages either, they all have their merits.
Reply 1
Avatar for INTit
INTit
17
He hasn't realised that everyone thats ever heard the word "Python" recommends it to newbies as a first language. So his point won't be valid for long.
Reply 2
Avatar for Evan_K
Evan_K
OP
1
Thats a very ill-informed statement. Why should you force yourself to use a language that is hard? Just because python is easy to learn doesn't make it a worse language. It makes it a much better language, actually.

And the essay was about non-mainstream programming languages in general. Python is just an example.
Reply 3
Avatar for INTit
INTit
17
His arguement is that those who have learnt Python have genuine interest and are willing to learn a language for the joy of it rather than necessity, this marks them out as better programmers.

This is true provided that Python remains relatively esoteric however when it becomes the main stream "introduction to programming" language and is taught to all the CS students his statement won't be true anymore.

I have nothing against Python and said nothing about it being a worse language. I was just pointing out that the huge increase in its popularity is probably going to render the "Python programmers are better" statement false.
Reply 4
Avatar for Evan_K
Evan_K
OP
1
yes thats true. but i dont think python is gonna become the industry standard overnight.
Reply 5
Avatar for caaakeeey
caaakeeey
11
Industry standard is a bit of a redundant term when dealing with programming languages.

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