I learned Perl first and found it incredibly useful just because of regexps but Perl programs got messy as they got larger. Python regexps are just that bit les

I learned Perl first and found it incredibly useful just because of regexps but Perl programs got messy as they got larger. Python regexps are just that bit less convenient and that trivial amount matters but in python I feel that once you get to writing functions and perhaps even classes it accelerates far ahead of Perl and you can write understandable, maintainable large programs in Python. You're not forced to dip into the OO side of things though and I've heard people suggest to me that Python is a language where no rules apply and no structure exists. They feel that they can dive in without the care they would have to take in Java or C++. I think they are very wrong but you can certainly write terrible code if you want and perhaps this "all-things-to-all-people" aspect of it is part of the success.