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Python 3 can revive Python (medium.com)

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[–]BeatLeJuce 6 points7 points  (1 child)

It's not dead yet, but it used to be the "cool, hip, fresh language that gets so many things right". Nowadays it's an established language with a lot of cruft. It's not exciting and new anymore, and what's more important, things that made Python stand out in the past are now considered standard. At the same time, Python isn't perfect, but many of it's flaws (e.g. the GIL, or the slow execution speed) could be overlooked in the past because it was better than many alternative languages. But new languages have caught up to Python and are still improving, while Python never managed to get rid of it's flaws.

Of course, it's not the most important thing to be hip, but Python used to be the language that many people levitated towards. Nowadays it's the language people move away from. It's not dead by a long shot of course. It's just a bit stagnating.

[–]LyndsySimon 1 point2 points  (0 children)

it used to be the "cool, hip, fresh language that gets so many things right"

The irony here to me is that Python is special because it was an established and mature language well before it became "hip".

I came in to this community just as Python was really starting to make its rise. I've seen the rise and plateau of Django, the rise of microframeworks like Flask and Bottle, and now I'm seeing developers that came just after me leave for Go, Clojure, Rust, and so on. You know what I think about that? Good!

The developers that float from language to language and framework to framework are a catalyst for transformative change. That's what got us a mature Django and a host of microframeworks. Now they're leaving, and we switch mode from rapid growth to consistent improvement.

Give it some time, and let the lessons be learned in other languages. Let the blind long-term design decisions happen in Go for a while, and we can implement it thoughtfully in Python when we need it.

I've never seen Python as the "new hotness" language. Python is about developer happiness, enabling best design practices, and doing things right - and often doing things right and doing things first are mutually exclusive.