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Yes, I've seen Python described as "everybody's second-favourite language". It's not the best at anything, but if your main requirement is a bunch of different
by sjellis 10y ago
Yes, I've seen Python described as "everybody's second-favourite language". It's not the best at anything, but if your main requirement is a bunch of different people all need to be able to read and edit the same code then it's a good choice.
- enrmarc 10y agoCouldn't we say the same thing about Ruby?
- dagw 10y agoNot really. Ruby isn't anywhere near as widespread or well supported in fields like finance, math, various scientific fields and GIS. Python on the other hand has at least has pretty good support in just about any domain you happen to stumble into.
- dalke 10y agoAs a historical note, this phrase was originally applied to WordStar. Quoting Jim Mischel at http://www.mischel.com/diary/2005/08/22.htm http://www.mischel.com/diary/2005/08/22.htm : > While I'm on the subject of WordStar, I've heard a story that I haven't been able to verify. When Phillipe Kahn was asked why he chose to use the WordStar command set in the first version of Sidekick, he said that he asked a lot of people for their editor preferences. Almost everybody had a different first preference (back then it could have been Emacs, vi, Word Perfect, WordStar, Brief, Leading Edge Word Processor, or who knows what else). But almost everybody he asked knew WordStar and named it as their second preference. I don't know if it's true, but it smacks of truth. Certainly every microcomputer programmer I knew back in the late 80s was proficient with WordStar.