[CentralOH] Why Python?

[Eric Floehr]

At the last meeting Pete Carswell asked me for help in supporting his goal
of wanting Python as the introductory language taught at CSCC, and
specifically to contrast it against Ruby, which is being pushed there. I
thought that I would share my response with everyone.

This is not meant as a negative for any other language (like Ruby, or even
Perl). Every person has their own reasons for selecting a particular
technology and I applaud that. I've written programs for money in Perl,
Ruby, PHP, Microsoft C++, etc. These are simply data points to support why
Python is a good choice for an introductory programming course.


*ACM: Python is now the most popular introductory teaching language at top
U.S. universities*
http://cacm.acm.org/blogs/blog-cacm/176450-python-is-now-the-most-popular-introductory-teaching-language-at-top-us-universities/fulltext

*Why I push for Python*
http://lorenabarba.com/blog/why-i-push-for-python/

*Python is asked for by more employers*
http://www.indeed.com/jobanalytics/jobtrends?q=python%2Cruby&l=

*Python is asked for by more startups*
(today: 1854 jobs ask for Python, 915 Ruby, 1232 javascript, 2002 java)
http://www.startuphire.com/

*TIOBE Index*
http://www.tiobe.com/index.php/content/paperinfo/tpci/index.html

*Five programming languages marked for death (dice.com <http://dice.com>)*
http://news.dice.com/2014/10/09/5-programming-languages-marked-for-death
(definitely just one man's opinion, but those language are Perl, Ruby,
VisualBasic.NET, Adobe Flash and Air, Delphi's Object Pascal)
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