Python vs PHP (& Java?)

[Alex Martelli]

"Tim Hammerquist" <tim at degree.ath.cx> wrote in message
news:slrn94l86m.a3h.tim at degree.ath.cx...
> Ben Ocean <zope at TheWebsons.com> wrote:
> > I'm an intermediate-level programmer that's new to Python (via Zope) and
I
> > like it a lot. However, it appears to me that, while Python is a good
> > replacement for Perl, it cannot replace much of the functionality of
PHP,
> > which can be scripted into HTML (whereas Python, it appears, must be
> > called).
>
> Ok, everyone else made very good points, but this little comment slipped
> out (not that I'm surprised, honestly)  =)   There is no "replacement
> for Perl!"  And Python would do a poor job trying to be Perl (and vice
> versa), nor does anyone here seem to _want_ Python to be/replace Perl.

Not sure what you mean here.  Over my first 2-3 months of Python,
I rewrote _every_ Perl script on my machine in Python, and the gains
in clarity, reliability, and maintainability, were outstanding.

The 'good-applicability niches' of Perl and Python are vastly
overlapped (and not so small as to really deserved being called
'niches', but that's another issue).  I can't think of any program
I would rather write in Perl than in Python, though I guess I
might *have* to, if forced (by somebody pointing a loaded gun at
my head with its safety off, for example).  So, for me, Python HAS
indeed served as "a good replacement for Perl" -- everything I used
to do in Perl, I now do in Python instead; what other definition
of "replacement" are you using instead?


Alex