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JavaScript had Netscape behind it, TypeScript has Microsoft behind it, Rust had Mozilla behind it, Go has Google behind it, Java had Sun behind it, C++ had AT&T

JavaScript had Netscape behind it, TypeScript has Microsoft behind it, Rust had Mozilla behind it, Go has Google behind it, Java had Sun behind it, C++ had AT&T behind it, and so on.. Borgo? Cannot think about much languages that haven't any bigger company behind it. PHP maybe? To an extend Python? But today Python good pushed by the big companies of the AI hype.

scythe 2y ago
Python was obscure and developed in silence for 15 years before it caught on. The team behind it just never gave up. Most people who develop independent languages give up after a year or five. Lua is similar, though it and PHP both caught on faster because they both put embedding upfront, which allowed them to be built into game engines and websites built with C.
- cwalv 2y ago
  Python also fits its design space amazingly well (that's what's meant by "Guido's time machine"). It's a glue language, with a REPL, but it's not a shell (i.e. it's not meant to glue programs primarily through stdin/stdout/argv, but instead libraries through their APIs). It was a very useful (Greenspun's tenth rule) and somewhat underserved niche (perl, scheme and tcl come to mind).
  - throwaway17_17 2y ago
    I know this is a really late reply, but your comment says ‘[i]t was a …’. Was that just an odd choice of tense or are you arguing that Python is no longer useful for its niche? If so, and I’m genuinely asking, is there a replacement for the glue language aspect that retains Pythons wide standard library approach?
- jyounker 2y ago
  I think your recollection of Python is a bit off. Python wasn't really obscure or developed in silence. If you needed a glue language for a unix system, then there were really only three choices: Perl 5, TCL/tk, and Python. If you worked in a career where you needed a glue language, then you were at the very least aware that Python existed.
  - dizhn 2y ago
    Python got a massive push from Google too. At one point (Early 2000s?) they were hiring a ton of python developers.
    - pjmlp 2y ago
      What kicked Python on 2000's was Zope, everyone was into Zope, like Rails almost a decade later.
cwalv 2y ago
In my mind the fact that Go has Google behind it is the main reason it caught on (and quickly). It would have been completely ignored otherwise.
- anamexis 2y ago
  I think that's the point.
- diggan 2y ago
  That + the individuals involved. Without the company backing + different (not already-"famous" [programmer famous]) people involved, it would have been completely ignored.
  - pjmlp 2y ago
    Note that the same individuals weren't that lucky with Plan 9, Inferno and Limbo, or Oberon. Employeer vibes matter.
ksec 2y ago
Google and Academia pushed Python in the 00s. >Cannot think about much languages that haven't any bigger company behind it. Ruby.

scythe 2y ago

Python was obscure and developed in silence for 15 years before it caught on. The team behind it just never gave up. Most people who develop independent languages give up after a year or five. Lua is similar, though it and PHP both caught on faster because they both put embedding upfront, which allowed them to be built into game engines and websites built with C.

cwalv 2y ago
Python also fits its design space amazingly well (that's what's meant by "Guido's time machine"). It's a glue language, with a REPL, but it's not a shell (i.e. it's not meant to glue programs primarily through stdin/stdout/argv, but instead libraries through their APIs). It was a very useful (Greenspun's tenth rule) and somewhat underserved niche (perl, scheme and tcl come to mind).
- throwaway17_17 2y ago
  I know this is a really late reply, but your comment says ‘[i]t was a …’. Was that just an odd choice of tense or are you arguing that Python is no longer useful for its niche? If so, and I’m genuinely asking, is there a replacement for the glue language aspect that retains Pythons wide standard library approach?
jyounker 2y ago
I think your recollection of Python is a bit off. Python wasn't really obscure or developed in silence. If you needed a glue language for a unix system, then there were really only three choices: Perl 5, TCL/tk, and Python. If you worked in a career where you needed a glue language, then you were at the very least aware that Python existed.
- dizhn 2y ago
  Python got a massive push from Google too. At one point (Early 2000s?) they were hiring a ton of python developers.
  - pjmlp 2y ago
    What kicked Python on 2000's was Zope, everyone was into Zope, like Rails almost a decade later.

cwalv 2y ago

In my mind the fact that Go has Google behind it is the main reason it caught on (and quickly). It would have been completely ignored otherwise.

anamexis 2y ago
I think that's the point.
diggan 2y ago
That + the individuals involved. Without the company backing + different (not already-"famous" [programmer famous]) people involved, it would have been completely ignored.
- pjmlp 2y ago
  Note that the same individuals weren't that lucky with Plan 9, Inferno and Limbo, or Oberon. Employeer vibes matter.

ksec 2y ago

Google and Academia pushed Python in the 00s. >Cannot think about much languages that haven't any bigger company behind it. Ruby.