Large-scale Python (was: Language Niches (long))

[Gordon McMillan]

[posted and mailed]

Cameron Laird) wrote:

[Paul Prescod]

>>... In particular, many people use Python
>>today in radically different ways than they would have five years ago
>>(in particular much bigger projects). They make certain demands on 


> This illustration interests me.
> 
> Without contesting any of Paul's larger points, what
> are the facts here?  I believe:
> * Python is good for team-work
>   and big projects; and
> * There is increasing recogni-
>   tion and use of Python in
>   this role.
> What role has "language change" played in this, though?
> I don't think Python's syntax or semantics support
> modularization and packaging significantly better than
> in '96 (Paul, do you have a Jython point in mind?).

Package support wasn't there in '96. I think that's 
around when "ni" was invented.

> Does performance improvement in hardware which makes
> raw speed less frequently a constraint constitute a
> "language change"?

I would agree with your point, if only you'd make it
explicit <wink>. There are enablers, but the main
thing is the expansion of the user base, from 
language hackers to application writers.

(If I'm not mistaken, "ni" was added by an Aussie
wacko who had the nerve to write major apps in Python.)

- Gordon