[Tutor] New to Python

[Alan Gauld]

"Nkem Onyemachi" <nicole4real4eva at yahoo.com> wrote

> Hi all im new to programming so i decided 2 learn Python
> since it is easy to learn on ones own

True.

>  what really is the advantage
> can i know it is not "heavy" like java etc

If by heavy you mean fully featured then one could argue that
Python was at least as "heavy" as Java. It can certainly do
many things that Java cannot:- non OOP programming,
multiple inheritance, functional programming etc.

> but really can it do apart 4rom being as a scripting language

Again that rather depends on your definition of a "scripting 
language".
If you mean a language used to glue together other programs,
then Python can do much more than that. It is a full programming
language in its own right and many applications can be found
that are written entirely in Python. Other appliations use Python
as a configuration or scripting language internally.

There are some application areas - like writing device drivers and
operating systems - where Python is not well suited. But
most areas can be handled in Python.

For more info try searching sourceforge for projects using python
and look at the advocacy section of the python web site!

HTH,

Alan G.