3 ms·
Everywhere I look, when new programmers ask what language to learn first, they are most often told to learn Python. C is too low-level, Perl's too old and cruf
by garnet7 17y ago
Everywhere I look, when new programmers ask what language to learn first, they are most often told to learn Python.
C is too low-level, Perl's too old and crufty, Ruby's too trendy, Scheme is too esoteric, Haskell's too difficult, Lua doesn't have enough libraries, Java's too verbose and corporate, ... the list of reasons not to go with other languages is a mile long. Note: PHP is usually never even mentioned.
Then the new programmer asks what language they should use for web programming. At this point, everyone looks at the floor, scratches the back of their neck, clears their throat a bit, and says that, well, you should probably use PHP because that's what everyone else is using.
So, in most corners of the programming world, many experienced programmers are recommending Python.
You know how to get "everyone else" to use Python for web development? You make it easy to deploy -- just like PHP.
- carbon8 17y ago"Everywhere I look ... they are most often told to learn Python ... in most corners of the programming world ... recommending Python" Combined with "Ruby's too trendy" There's that cognitive dissonance again.
- plinkplonk 17y ago"Then the new programmer asks what language they should use for web programming. At this point, everyone looks at the floor, scratches the back of their neck, clears their throat a bit, and says that, well, you should probably use PHP because that's what everyone else is using." wow! This is some seriously fucked up advice. if someone were to ask me what language he should learn first, the answer is Python. When "Then the new programmer asks what language they should use for web programming" the answer is still Python - use Django with its awesome documentation and uber friendly community- (and PostGres as a database). This steers them clear of two terrible (but popular) pieces of software, PHP and MySQL.
- nostrademons 17y agoI usually tell people "Use Python and Django" when they ask me what language they should use for web programming. I agree though, Python apps should be much easier to deploy on the web. Just because it's currently the best solution doesn't mean it can't be better.
- pyman 17y agoI usually tell people, you are not a mathematician, a crazy scientist or lonely sys admin, you are a web developer, go with PHP.