Python critical mass /turning point

[Pierre-Yves Le Dirach]

X-No-archive:yes

If i dare adding a word, I think you forgot at least one reason among
"Suitability for commercial products" :

2.4) Human-readable and understandable source code (even for
non-techies);
Even if you could open a Perl program in vi (Notepad ?) and read it,
no non-techie could understand it at first sight (sometimes even
techies...;).
But the day my boss (not a programmer, but a marketing guy) had a look
on my Python source, he felt like he understood it. And most
"Microsoft-minded" bosses can't consider selling "understandable"
source to a client.

Closed-source companies... 

Just my 2 cents.

P.


anthony_barker at hotmail.com (Anthony_Barker) wrote in message news:<899f842.0209040617.711664fe at posting.google.com>...
> I have been trying to determine what is holding python back from 
> reaching the critical mass/success that perl/c++/Java have experienced.
> Caveate - I am not a python guru - so some of the technical stuff may be wrong.
> 
> I believe most of the issues are not technical - If technical features were 
> key to critical mass then LISP would be the main programming 
> language.
> 
> 1. Interpreter Available on every desktop/server
> Perl has this on the server
> Java had this in the browser space
> 
> Solution(s)
> Parrot/Perl6 integration - the if python is included
> with the perl interpreter it would be everywhere
> Lobby Sun & IBM to include Python on their Unix CDs
> Lobby Microsoft to get added to their resource kit
> Other options are already available such as freeze....
> 
> 2. Suitability for commercial products
> A couple of the problems I believe are technical and
> reputation.
> 1) Speed issue compared when compared with c/c++
> 2) The ability to enforce interfaces
> Allow enforced type checking and encapsulation - people are often
> surprised when they find out data is hidden in python.
> 3) Access c libraries/apis seamlessly
> 
> Solutions(s)
> Speed issue I believe may be solved by psycho, and time. As python
> matures it seems to be getting faster, while computers are getting
> so fast speed matters less.
> 
> Having a compiler would allow python to be know not only as a 
> scripting language. Unfortunately "scripting language" for some
> is equivalent to - not a real language. Enforced interfaces
> and the ability to enforce data hiding
> 
> SWIG is doing a good job with the last issue.
> 
> 
> 3) Big corporate sponsor(s)
> IBM sponsors Java/Perl/C/C++ & Cobalt 
> by having IDEs and corporate support available for those languages.
> 
> IBM supports PERL?
> Surprise - Tivoli products are glued together with Perl
> Lotus Unix server products use perl under the hood
> Perl is shipped on every AIX box
> Perl courses are available as is support
> etc
> 
> Microsoft Supports
> VB/C/C++/c#/Java(kind of)/Perl etc
> 
> Perl is included in the NT/Win2K resource kits
> Also is part of the tools for Unix
> 
> Sun
> Java/Perl/etc
> 
> Perl is bundled with Solaris
> Sun Solutions has Perl courses available
> 
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Anthony
> http://xminc.com/anthony/