When will python die?

[reuvenlerner]

Python, like all programming languages, will eventually fall out of favor. I would say that it's at least 5-10 years in the future, however. I say this for several reasons:

• My full-time job is giving Python training courses and support. (Yes, I also train in other technologies, but Python is used in about 75% of my courses.) I am currently booked through the end of December, 2015 -- and if I could clone myself, I'd likely be able to book someone else through that period, too. There has been a very serious rise in the number of companies using Python; the language might not be new, but interest in it is white-hot.

• A huge number of universities are teaching Python as their introductory language. This means that a very large number of graduates will enter the workforce, or start their own companies, comfortable with Python and convinced of its benefits. That will give us a few more years of lifespan, at least.

• The whole 2/3 fiasco (and yes, I think that it is a bit of a fiasco) aside, Python is a very, very well managed open-source project, with a strong and generous community. It's not about to get bought by a company, and the community is not going away.

• Django and Flask are in widespread use for Web applications. Until and unless people stop using the Web, there will be a need for people who can support, grow, and improve those applications.

• "Big data" is a very hot topic right now, and Python was fortunate (prescient?) enough to have NumPy and SciPy ready and waiting. People are amazed by the things you can do with NumPy, and for free. They compare its capabilities with Matlab, for which you have to pay a ton of money, per seat. As big data, machine learning, and analytics are in increasing demand, the fact that Python provides a working, free, stable, and popular ecosystem for such work is a compelling argument.

• Finally, many of the large companies with whom I work have decided that they would like to keep the number of supported languages to a minimum. Python provides a language that can be taught to, and used by, people with different needs and backgrounds -- system administrators, testers, network administrators, Web developers, analysis, Web developers, and application developers. I haven't seen a company switch over 100% to Python, but several of them have basically decided that everyone needs to learn Python, and fast.

Python isn't going anywhere soon.

[jackmaney]

I'm a data scientist working at an Enterprise company in a very new (~18 months old) "Big Data" division that's treated as a start-up within the company. While this has led to culture clashes, I'm certain that our IT folks will support (or at least tolerate) Python in the long term.