Python's competition these days is most likely to be Ruby, not Perl. A fair number of people I know that once programmed in Perl are now Python/Ruby people.

I agree. Python has a long way to go before it competes with Perl instead of Ruby.

You're right. Why just last night I read some python code and actually understood it!

What do you think Python lacks relative to Perl?

I used to do Perl and now work in a Python shop, and the only Perl feature I really miss is closures (as opposed to Python's hobbled-by-design "lambda" construct).

What does Python lack, relative to Perl? Popularity. I know very little Perl and very much Python; my statements aren't intended to promote a particular language. The competition I referred to is based on popularity, not merit.

There's not that much difference in popularity these days. Of projects listed by Freshmeat, Perl is used on 3784 and Python on 3286 ( http://freshmeat.net/browse/160/ ).

A few years ago, Perl had twice as many projects as Python; now it's almost even.

Let's be honest, there's much more Perl code in the wild than Python, and CPAN towers over any Python network. The knowledge base is far greater for Perl as well (there are books on the DBI alone).

Of course, I'd rather code Python usually.

The Python version of the CPAN is called ["PyPI"](http://pypi.python.org/pypi). It was formerly called the "Cheeseshop".

From the PyPI front page: "There are currently 5256 packages here." According to cpan.org, the CPAN is up to "14749 modules" -- dunno how many distributions that makes though.

It's 14793 distributions and x3 modules.

yeah that's why I've been converting any Perl apps I've been assigned to Python hehe

You need to maintain readability (whitespaces) in Python, but in Perl you can do this automatically with perltidy.

You're right. Guido would have to completely fuck up the design of Python 3 for it to be anywhere near as ugly as Perl!

Well put, as long as they are responsible system administrators Perl will live. Python/Ruby would never play well in an admin's toolbox.

Even at Google, where the preferred scripting language is Python by far, many system administration tasks are handled with Perl.

Why?

Perl has many features familiar to users of sh/bash. For admins who often deal with shell scripts, it's an easy reach to use Perl for all sorts of little things.

That said, I think you can still be responsible and use Python instead. ;) Might take you a few more keystrokes though.

agree with that. perl is tremendous for sysadmin tasks.

we've had 90% complete python tools rewritten from scratch in perl because perl is so superior.

disclaimer: i'm a recovering ex-sysadmin

Wait. If I'm reading that right, you had utils written in Python that were 90% finished but then rewrote them in Perl and got them working.

What about Python was getting you stuck at 90%?

I would prefer Python's competition come from something based on a better and presumably newer paradigm, rather than an old tired mess of a language... maybe Perl 5 isn't that, but it sure looks like it to an outsider!