While I work at a company that uses Python a lot (and would have had a hard time finding such a place a few years ago) I don't really have a clear opinion on whether Python's marketshare (or mindshare) is growing significantly. Perl seems to be in decline, but on the other hand, Ruby is attracting a lot of people.
One interesting thing I noticed when I visited Amazon.com today, was that several publishers are busy making new editions of their Python books. These classics are in the pipeline: Python Essential Reference (3rd Edition) by David M. Beazley (Paperback - February 24, 2006) I have the 1st ed. Just as with Martelli's Nutshell-book, this is a really good reference book. (Or was in previous editions at least.) Python, Second Edition : Visual QuickStart Guide (2nd Edition) by Chris Fehily (Paperback - April 14, 2006) In my opinion one of the best beginner books. Straight forward and also affordable. Programming Python, 3rd edition by Mark Lutz (Paperback - July 2006) Never a favourite of mine really, but a popular book... And this is already reissued it seems: Python Programming for the Absolute Beginner, Second Edition by Michael Dawson (Paperback - November 8, 2005) Finally... Beginning Python: From Novice to Professional by Magnus Lie Hetland (Paperback - September 26, 2005) ...was more or less a 2nd edition of Magnus' "Practical Python". There is also a "Python for Dummies" on its way at last. (I'm not sure Python *is* for dummies though. Despite being so easy to learn and use, it mainly seems to attract smart and experienced people, why else would Python programmers be among the best paid programmers?) Somehow, the fact that so many books are reissued in a fairly short period, makes me feel that the publishers feel that the winds are blowing our way... Any thoughts on this? I don't see any similar republish trends among the other scripting languages. (Although Ruby on Rails seems to attract some attention -- four books in the pipeline.) -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
