Yes, I really am doing that much computation. Not everyone works on database-dependent web apps. The GIL sucks. It holds Python back from wider use. I wanted

Yes, I really am doing that much computation. Not everyone works on database-dependent web apps. The GIL sucks. It holds Python back from wider use. I wanted to use Python for the GUI/scripting layer of a high performance desktop application, but dealing with the GIL in a mixed C++/Python multithreaded event-driven architecture was too annoying. When Python code isn't in charge of the main application loop, things get ugly. These days, I mainly see Python as a source of syntax inspiration for other languages. I say this with the highest amount of respect. I think Python's best qualities - list comprehensions, generators, itertools - are largely independent of its interpreted, dynamic nature. They will eventually find a better home in a language with more industrial-grade semantics. "The GIL isn't that bad, get over it" is not an attitude that will sustain a language for decades.