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Is Python the Future of Programming? (economist.com)
The Economist argues that Guido Van Rossum resembled the reluctant Messiah in Monty Python's Life of Brian. An anonymous reader quotes their report:
"I certainly didn't set out to create a language that was intended for mass consumption," he explains. But in the past 12 months Google users in America have searched for Python more often than for Kim Kardashian, a reality-TV star. The rate of queries has trebled since 2010, while inquiries after other programming languages have been flat or declining. The language's popularity has grown not merely among professional developers -- nearly 40% of whom use it, with a further 25% wishing to do so, according to Stack Overflow, a programming forum -- but also with ordinary folk. Codecademy, a website that has taught 45 million novices how to use various languages, says that by far the biggest increase in demand is from those wishing to learn Python. It is thus bringing coding to the fingertips of those once baffled by the subject. Pythonistas, as aficionados are known, have helped by adding more than 145,000 packages to the Cheese Shop, covering everything from astronomy to game development....
Python was already the most popular introductory language at American universities in 2014, but the teaching of it is generally limited to those studying science, technology, engineering and mathematics. A more radical proposal is to catch 'em young by offering computer science to all, and in primary schools. Hadi Partovi, the boss of Code.org, a charity, notes that 40% of American schools now offer such lessons, up from 10% in 2013. Around two-thirds of 10- to 12-year-olds have an account on Code.org's website. Perhaps unnerved by a future filled with automated jobs, 90% of American parents want their children to study computer science.
"The CIA has employed Python for hacking, Pixar for producing films, Google for crawling web pages and Spotify for recommending songs," notes the Economist.
Though Van Rossum was Python's Benevolent Dictator For Life, "I'm uncomfortable with that fame," he tells the magazine. "Sometimes I feel like everything I say or do is seen as a very powerful force."
Python was already the most popular introductory language at American universities in 2014, but the teaching of it is generally limited to those studying science, technology, engineering and mathematics. A more radical proposal is to catch 'em young by offering computer science to all, and in primary schools. Hadi Partovi, the boss of Code.org, a charity, notes that 40% of American schools now offer such lessons, up from 10% in 2013. Around two-thirds of 10- to 12-year-olds have an account on Code.org's website. Perhaps unnerved by a future filled with automated jobs, 90% of American parents want their children to study computer science.
"The CIA has employed Python for hacking, Pixar for producing films, Google for crawling web pages and Spotify for recommending songs," notes the Economist.
Though Van Rossum was Python's Benevolent Dictator For Life, "I'm uncomfortable with that fame," he tells the magazine. "Sometimes I feel like everything I say or do is seen as a very powerful force."
If popularity was a determinant of goodness, McDonald's is the best restaurant in the US, and Wal-Mart is the best retailer in the US.
Python is popular because it's relatively easy to use, not necessarily because it's "The Future of Programming".
I don't respond to AC's.
It seems we will never get tired of "language X is the future of all computer science because Y it" tropes.
In the past, X can be replaced with Ada, C, C++, Java, Javascript, Python, Erlang, or whatever. The list is endless.
The term Y can be replace with "I like it," "I really like it," "I really really like it," or "I don't know what is going on but the StackOverflow numbers seem to mean something.
Jeez. Can't we just all accept that some careers or individual software gigs involve programming in just one language. Most careers and gigs require multiple languages.
Right now I am doing an Angular project that includes HTML, CSS, TypeScript, Javascript, and Java all at the same time. Is that the "future?" I have no reason to believe so. I am just trying to get a job done.
There will always be another language to learn and there were always be another up-and-coming language on a hockey stick. That's not a bug that's a feature.
Rule of Optimization
Developers should prototype software before polishing it. This rule aims to prevent developers from spending too much time for marginal gains.
Not everything needs to be the best, most optimized way to do something.
We're constantly automating away boring tasks at work with Python and they're all 'good enough' to finish and move on to the next problem. We *could* do them in C but it'd be marginally faster with longer development time.
Everyone! This guy is trying to shame vampire python programmers! /typicalSJWmoron
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