Have you been bit by the snake?

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Let me just say, "Wow!"

I've just started to learn Python and I'm impressed!

I recommend it to experienced scripters who need a versatile and newbies who want to learn to script. The interpreted aspect of the language allows beginners to try code out as they learn it (via a Python shell called IDLE or Linux Konsole - I don't know whether you can do the same in command line prompt in MS) without having to re-compile everytime.

Who else is fond of Python?

No, but my grandmother was.

My mother and her sister and six brothers grew up on a rural farm in Clay county West Virginia with no electricity or indoor plumbing. Her father was killed when the tractor rolled over on him. I assume that’s why she only has seven siblings. Her mother was bitten by a rattlesnake and after three days of incredible agony, the snake died. Mom died on Mother’s day in 1993 of advanced diabetes. She was 62. My father is alcoholic, and except for a brief phone conversation when my mother died, I haven’t spoken to him in nearly 20 years.

My grandfather was bit by a water moccosin...ok I didn't spell that one right, when he was really young, then when my mom was little, she killed one with a rock and brought it home to show my grandfather......he was not a happy camper to say the least. Hey Mark, they are from Ridgely West Virginia, and my dad is from Tallman's Ville West Virgina. I was never bit by a snake but I have a picture of me holding my nephews phython on my myspace, he thought he would scare me with it, but I just took it and held it for awhile. http://www.myspace.com/63827134

I have a paranoid fear of snakes. I think they're beautiful, at least the constrictors, and I'm respectful but not fearful of wild snakes. I love handling pet snakes because I get that same thrill, that adrenaline rush that is the reason some people love rollercoasters. I just need the owner to be right there to take it off my hands if I freak out.

Python seems pretty neat, but what are its practical applications?

The mission editor for Freedom Force was scripted in Python, and I think so was it's sequel Freedom Force vs. The Third Reich.

I recently decided to learn python too (haven't started yet). It seems great as a first language though I already know the basics of some others. I think it's a good idea to learn some C first to get in the habit of declaring variables. After python I plan to learn PHP, C++ and maybe java.

As for the question of practical applications:
http://www.python.org/about/apps/

Apparently it's a bit slow but it can't be worse than anything programmed in the .NET framework right? Probably not a good comparison. I hear python and others have been ported to .NET now anyway.

No, I'm thankful.

Python seems kinda like a passing fad to me.

I started using Linux way back in 1996, and Python was around back then. I never saw it being used or discussed aside from some obscure, simple X-Windows applications. Red Hat (and later Fedora) adopted it for some of their install/admin scripts, but otherwise it was still pretty obscure.

Then, Google came out with their search API and some other things, which included Python scripts as examples. And they mentioned using Python scripts for internal system administration. And almost immediately afterwards, suddenly everybody started talking about how Python is the Next Big Thing.

I am, admittedly, not too familiar with Python. But considering it's been commonly distributed for over 10 years, I think that it if it really did live up to the hype, it would have been "discovered" a long time ago.

As it stands, it just appears to be an extension of the Google fanboy/cult thing that's so popular these days. Which, to me, just reduces Python's credibility. Other examples of Google fanaticism:

Google Spreadsheets: I saw so many idiots acting like this was the best thing ever. It evidently doesn't matter that spreadsheet applications have been around since before most of them were born. Or that they probably never used a spreadsheet outside of an "Intro to Computer Science" class, or had any interest in doing so. Or that it's inferior to any other spreadsheet app in existence. It's the coolest thing ever because it's rigged into a webpage and has the "Google" logo.

Google Talk: I used to think ICQ was the worst IM client possible. It's very bloated, the default sounds could not possibly be more annoying, and usernames are just hugeass random strings of numbers. But at least it works. You can send/receive files. It handles offline messages. It accurately displays whether users are online/idle or not. When you set it to play an alert sound when someone sends you a message, it does. And the UI, while not being the greatest, doesn't look like an 8-year-old spent 15 minutes designing it with MS Paint and Visual Basic 6.0. You can't say the same for GTalk, which means it is miraculously even WORSE! But because Google made it, most of its users talk as if it's God's gift to instant messaging.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand.. I'd recommend starting with C++ or Java, because their more strict/complex nature forces you to learn good concepts of programming & coding. Then you can move on to PHP. It is, IMO, a pretty good programming language-- especially with the improvements in 5.0. But its simplicity and forgiveness mean that it's too easy to make sloppy, badly-written code while never learning good programming practices.