What is python?????

[rzed]

James Stroud <jstroud at mbi.ucla.edu> wrote in
news:Uie0j.21360$Pv2.5711 at newssvr23.news.prodigy.net: 

> 
> You're having a conversation with a spambot.

Actually, my intent was to address the question that was asked. 
Much of the genuine conversation in the group really does intermix 
the various senses of "Python", sometimes in ways that confuse the 
issues actually being discussed. People ask for changes to the 
language syntax when what they are really after can be addressed 
by additions or changes to libraries. Or they believe Python 
should have such-and-such a feature when the feature is available 
through external packages. Or their suggested changes to 
accommodate their desired feature would require fundamental and 
incompatible changes to the compiler.

The way I think of the language Python is as a clean, small 
enabler of functionality. The prepackaged Python distro supplies 
some of that functionality (the included batteries), and the 
environment Python makes far more available. Under that view, 
changes to the language should be the sort that allow the 
functionality to proceed cleanly. That is, there should be a 
Pythonic way to approach databases, windowing, interprocess 
communication and so on. The packages that perform the function 
should be interchangeable as far as the language is concerned. I 
don't believe everyone here would agree with this view, possibly. 

Regardless of the origin of the question, though, it is one worth 
discussing, which is why I responded to the post. Do we all really 
have the same view of what Python actually is? Or what it could 
be?

-- 
rzed