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I mean it's not like MATLAB where a company put in millions of dollars to make these libraries - the entire ecosystem was developed by open source contributors

I mean it's not like MATLAB where a company put in millions of dollars to make these libraries - the entire ecosystem was developed by open source contributors because they liked something about Python - sure, it's probably not as sophisticated as some of the other languages, but it has a low barrier of entry, it has users, and people developed libraries - in some cases because that's where users are and in many cases because it's the language they know! You're thinking about the programmer effort put into making certain libraries efficient, but think about the users who are reaping the benefits of low barrier to entry! More people are coding, getting comfortable with the idea of programming, and we should welcome them!

lambda_garden 3y ago
> they liked something about Python I think it's simply what they already knew. Very few programmers learn multiple languages to any kind of depth. Is there any evidence that Python is an easy language to learn? I think we've reached a situation where beginners learn Python because it's seen as beginner friendly... because beginners learn Python!
- EnergyAmy 3y ago
  It's definitely easier than many other languages to start learning. Absolute beginners don't want to worry about overflow, signedness, or anything like that. They just want to add some numbers and have it work. Python isn't perfect by any stretch, but having syntax like "for x in y:" goes a long way towards helping beginners not have to care about stuff they're not ready for yet. Admittedly, that's just an opinion. I don't know of any relevant studies, but Python wasn't always the preferred language for beginners, and it changed at some point. It feels like there must be a reason for that.