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Exception error handling - and their extensive use in the standard library -is the fundamental design mistake that prevented Python becoming a substantial progr

Exception error handling - and their extensive use in the standard library -is the fundamental design mistake that prevented Python becoming a substantial programing language. Coupled with the dynamic typing and mutability by default, it guarantees Python programs won't scale, relegating the language to the role of a scratchpad for rough drafts and one off scripts, a toy beginner's language.

Daishiman 4y ago
I have no idea why you say that it's a scratchpad or a toy language consdering that far more production lines of code are getting written in Python nowadays than practically any other language with the possible exception of Java.
- cornholio 4y ago
  But that's the same with Excel: massive usage for throwaway projects with loose or non-existing requirements or performance bounds that end-up in production. Python is widely used, but not for substantial programming in large projects - say, projects over 100 kloc. Python hit the "quick and dirty" sweet spot of programming.
  - Daishiman 4y ago
    This is absolutely not true. I’ve made my living working with Python and there’s an astounding amount of large Python codebases. Onstage and YouTube alone have millions of lines of code. Hedge funds and fintechs base their entire data processing workflows around Python batch jobs. Django is about as popular as Rails and powers millions of websites and backends. None of those applications are toys. I have no idea where your misperception is coming from.
    - cornholio 4y ago
      I guess I'm more than a little prejudiced from trying to maintain all sorts of CI tools, web applications and other largeish programs somebody initially hacked in Python in an afternoon and which grew to become "vital infrastructure". The lack of typing bytes you hard and the optional typing that has been shoehorned into the language is irrelevant in practice. All sorts of problems would simply have not existed if the proper language was used from the beginning, as opposed to the one where anyone can hack most easily.

Daishiman 4y ago

I have no idea why you say that it's a scratchpad or a toy language consdering that far more production lines of code are getting written in Python nowadays than practically any other language with the possible exception of Java.

cornholio 4y ago
But that's the same with Excel: massive usage for throwaway projects with loose or non-existing requirements or performance bounds that end-up in production. Python is widely used, but not for substantial programming in large projects - say, projects over 100 kloc. Python hit the "quick and dirty" sweet spot of programming.
- Daishiman 4y ago
  This is absolutely not true. I’ve made my living working with Python and there’s an astounding amount of large Python codebases. Onstage and YouTube alone have millions of lines of code. Hedge funds and fintechs base their entire data processing workflows around Python batch jobs. Django is about as popular as Rails and powers millions of websites and backends. None of those applications are toys. I have no idea where your misperception is coming from.
  - cornholio 4y ago
    I guess I'm more than a little prejudiced from trying to maintain all sorts of CI tools, web applications and other largeish programs somebody initially hacked in Python in an afternoon and which grew to become "vital infrastructure". The lack of typing bytes you hard and the optional typing that has been shoehorned into the language is irrelevant in practice. All sorts of problems would simply have not existed if the proper language was used from the beginning, as opposed to the one where anyone can hack most easily.