“These kind of debates remind me of a story I once heard about Formula 1 champion Graham Hill. He was hired by a British auto magazine as a reviewer, but it didn’t work out because no matter what kind of car they gave him to drive, he was always able to get it to do what he wanted, hence he was never able to be sufficiently critical for the job of a reviewer.”

If I give you a 90-pound-7-feet European medieval sword, that won’t make you a Crusader. You’ll be a kid whining how heavy the sword is.

If I give you a katana, that won’t make you a samurai. You’ll be a kid whining how short the sword is.

Either way, if you ever meet samurai or Crusader, whatever sword you have in your hands, you don’t stand a chance.

Programming language is a tool. It’s your job to learn how to use it. Whenever I hear “______ sucks!”, I know I’m dealing with an amateur.

My reasons have to do with accessibility and ease of entry. A C based syntax is a big plus based on previous exposure to C and Java. For me learning a new syntax and incompatibility of whitespace with HTML will probably keep me away from Python. After scanning through a text on Python I like it, but think its just too alien to what I already know. Most of my computer career has involved things other than programming.

ROR looks interesting and efficient, but syntax(it show is Japanese roots!),speed, limited usage will probably keep me away. from it.

Moose, Catalyst, the Padre IDE… Perl is still alive and well.

To say that PHP is a horrible language is a complete misnomer.

- I loved working with C, and still do, it’s powerful and does exactly what you want. The bookkeeping is an absolute nightmare. Having to allocate and deallocate memory and keep track of where you have created dynamic memory blocks, though forces you to be dilligent and careful, wastes a lot of time in development and testing.
- Enter Perl…This is a good language. All the modules are optimized C libraries, and using the strict module, you can easily keep a good structure to your programs. It has the same syntax as C with a few added extras, and allows you to perform virtually any function. The regular expression handling is second to none, which makes its extremely useful for its primary task (reading and parsing text). It has grown over the years, and in my opinion used in places it should not have been (such as the web). But for a long time it was the only game in town. Unlike C this is an interpreted language, which meant that production times are reduced significantly and modifications are easily implemented and quickly. It also means that a chance for lazy programming is introduced.
- Now comes Java. This is a beautiful language full of structure and a strict object oriented approach. Kept simple, Java might have been the true dominant player that it was set up to be, but the community mucked it up. Like Perl it was introduced to the web, a space that it really did not belong. The whole purpose of Java was to write a desktop application once and deploy it anywhere. Once the community got involved with EJB, J2EE, and the like, the language starting becoming bloated and unwieldy. Java zealots started making developer see nothing but Objects, and XML for all tasks, where these were not needed for most. This is a shame, because Java, with its internal bookkeeping, perl-like garbage collection, and disciplined structure, despite being semi-compiled could have been the language of choice for everything.
- The Web forced us to start thinking about languages meant for…well the web. Here comes PHP. The new kid in town, still retaining the C-like structure. This and used correctly is quite possibly the most powerful of all languages. With the advent of the mod_php and the cli engine, PHP has what it takes be a very clean-written, useful language. And used properly can allow a developer to put together a large-scale application (web or desktop) in a very short amount of time with very little code. Again being an interpreted language like perl, with the added benefit of Polymorphism, Extensibility, and inheritance (the definition of Object Oriented), like Java, PHP becomes a language that allows you to easily shoot yourself in the foot, as well as create powerful applications for web and desktop. The low bar for entry makes this a very user-friendly yet powerful enough for a seasoned veteran. This is the reason why it has become my language of Choice.
- As for Python. I have worked with it. It is…interesting to say the least. I have to admit I am not a fan of the forced whitespace. In my opinion, it is a step backwards reminding me of the days of Fortran in the early nineties. It is a useful language and can look very pretty. It is functional, has some very friendly nuances, but doesn’t roll off the fingers like C, Java, Perl, or PHP. The syntax is the holding point. This is definitely an administrator’s language allowing for quick programs to handle large amounts of data in a logical fashion. Very useful, and powerful, but not one that a professional developer would hang on to for long.

In all I have to agree to agree with Nocivus. Each language has its strengths and weaknesses and using the appropriate tool for the appropriate job is truly what defines a good developer, or software engineer.