Because old C/C++ programmers can use python just like C/C++, and it's easy. I work on an embedded soc, and it's seriously easy for an experienced systems guy

Because old C/C++ programmers can use python just like C/C++, and it's easy. I work on an embedded soc, and it's seriously easy for an experienced systems guy to make a python interface to the huge C++ high level driver, without knowing very much python (let alone some kind of "productive" language). On the other hand, my experience using labview was like amputating my fingers with a spoon. So I probably didn't spend enough time with it to 'get' it. But it did crash a lot. A friend of mine uses it in the research lab he works in, and he hates it with a passion, and complains about buggy closed source modules and hidden accrual of state.