baalbek <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > This unassuming scripting language has beaten heavy-weights like > Java, C++, etc, and this without any serious marketing machine > behind it. > > Why? The language is just so well designed (I miss some of Ruby's > features, but then, nothing is perfect), robust, stable, and with a > humongous amount of libraries, and runs without any modification on > all OS platforms I use.
I attribute much of it to the fact that it's free software -- i.e. its main implementations have, for its entire life, been freely modifiable and redistributable by anyone. This gives it a qualitative edge in adoption over Delphi and Java, at least; and is the primary reason for "runs on all major platforms". These days, I never want to invest in an OS or language, or pretty much any infrastructural computing technology, unless it's free from vendor lock-in. It's just too damned risky to rely on something that isn't guaranteed to be supportible beyond a single vendor's whim. That's "survival of the fittest" in computing technology as I see it :-) -- \ "It is forbidden to steal hotel towels. Please if you are not | `\ person to do such is please not to read notice." -- Hotel | _o__) sign, Kowloon, Hong Kong | Ben Finney -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
