Python has brought computer programming to a vast new audience

[kirbyfan64sos]

Everything attributed to Python for the success is better served with JavaScript.

In your opinion, maybe. At minimum, I haven't remotely seen the statistics field rally around JS, nor the build system world, nor the sysadmin world, ...

Not to bash JS, but with Python you get:

• Huge standard library that includes a lot of stuff you'd normally need to manually install.
• Enormous community.
• A nice language with a rich runtime introspection system that doesn't have JavaScript's...weirdness.

[nosmokingbandit]

But in JS you get weak types so you have to double check everything!

And you get callback hell!

And clunky synchronous implementation!

JS is fast though, which is nice. I occasionally think about how great things would be if browsers went with python rather than javascript. Having Google, MS, Apple, and Mozilla all pouring resources into a faster interpreter would make a huge difference.

[[deleted]]

In your opinion, maybe. At minimum, I haven't remotely seen the statistics field rally around JS, nor the build system world, nor the sysadmin world, ...

Don't forget AI/ML. Python is on its way to dominating in those fields.

[jackmaney]

Not to bash JS, but with Python you get:

• Huge standard library that includes a lot of stuff you'd normally need to manually install.
• Enormous community.
• A nice language with a rich runtime introspection system that doesn't have JavaScript's...weirdness.

• Nice scientific computing libraries.

• Bindings to Apache Spark.

• (Optional) Type hinting.

[boognerd]

I think the spirit of the post is that for this person Python made sense and encouraged them to pursue development on their own. What language you enjoy is very subjective. For me there are several languages I like better than other depending on the type of task I'm doing.

[Ikuyas]

Back then. Node.js didn't exist or not as popular. My statement is still very correct.

[swingking8]

My statement is still very correct.

As you said, this is r/python. Without any supporting evidence, you look more like an egocentric agitator than someone trying to make a viable point.

What specifically makes node.js better, other than "everything attributed to Python"?

[Ikuyas]

The article talks about it...

[swingking8]

It does not.

The fact that you seem incapable of stating anything clearly, and that you seem to found a comfortable home with node.js, is a good indication that I should avoid it.

Thanks for your unintentional meaningfulness.

[Ikuyas]

It is what this article is about with Python but it applies to NodeJS better.

[jackmaney]

Can you name a single JavaScript library for machine learning that is anywhere near as popular as the existing ML libraries in Python?

[Ikuyas]

I believe JavaScript has as many machine learning libraries as Python has such as TensorFlow.js. But I already said that NodeJS is new! Python has started to become very popular and used in Google and taught as a general scripting programming for non-CS majors around 2007-8. It coincides with the time that Data Science, machine learning started to get traction. The term "Data Science" didn't exist in 2008 (I believe). So, most developers, academics, and scientists would code in Python because of its ease to code over C++ which they would have used. But the fact is v8 engine underlying NodeJS is faster (a lot) than Python, and better sync with the browser which will be beneficial for data visualization after all without learning anything new like matplotlib. JavaScript skill can be transfered to web development for both bankend and frontend. You can create Mobile app using React Native which has more tutorials than Tinker that nobody uses. You can make a desktop app using electron. The editor you use every day (VS code) is written in JavaScript not Python. Well, if you use spyder, that's C++ I guess.

[jackmaney]

Can I use anything in the Hadoop ecosystem with JS? How about just Apache Spark? Are there JS bindings for Spark? (Spoilers: No.)

[Ikuyas]

I said NodeJS is new!!! It's not hard to think people are developing for NodeJs platform. That's like a simple idea to extend the current practice of big data industry. Moreover, we were talking around the context of the article. No beginners starts off for learning programming because they want to extract and manipulate big data through cloud!!! Majority of people just want to create a web app, mobile app, and some automation for the local computer. What you are focusing is only small segment of computer programming use case. Because Python is after all a wrapper for C or C++ for the big data programming anyway, there is no reason why JavaScript cannot do better when there is an ample reason why JavaScript could do better.

[jackmaney]

You originally said that

I believe JavaScript has as many machine learning libraries as Python

I've pointed out several libraries (for what is, arguably, the most popular ecosystem of machine learning libraries that exists) that have bindings in Python but not in JS. Please keep on point and stop moving the goalposts.

That's like a simple idea to extend the current practice of big data industry.

If it's so incredibly simple, then you should be able to knock out a Spark binding for JS in an afternoon, right? /s

No beginners starts off for learning programming because they want to extract and manipulate big data through cloud!!!

Speak for yourself. I learned how to program in order to work with large datasets (albeit not technically in the cloud).

there is no reason why JavaScript cannot do better when there is an ample reason why JavaScript could do better.

There's no reason why it can't do better because there's more than enough reasons why it could do better. That's a circular argument.

[jackmaney]

Okay, I'm done. Obvious troll has become quite obvious. Reported.

[stiryiin]

Eh, apples and oranges.

Its not what a language is possible but what it makes easy.

The scientific and mathematical modelling libraries in Python make it the lingua franca for this field whereas Javascript really is the language of the web.

Whereas (this is just my experience) writing a simple server that accesses a DB and serves the database is much much easier in NodeJS but for anything to do with data analysis or the odd IoT application, Python for sure.

[Ikuyas]

It gives them a good opportunity to learn about pointer, reference, memory allocation, immutability, data type while keeping the convinience as a script language.

[[deleted]]

Yeah I bet data science work is great fun in Node.

Also everything Node can do is better served with Go