"Python is what Perl should have been."
The Perl6 team are currently redesigning the base language and they aren't making it look like Python.
This is a surprise? Betting on a tiger becoming spotted is not a good bet.
Exactly. Nothing wrong with the tiger. Stripes work for a lot of things. So the quote is garbage.
Have you run into a situation where there is no appropriate module for Python but there is for Perl? Of course such situations are possible, but I wonder how often they occur?
Yes. I used to write scripts which tested RAID arrays, and I had lots of useful code for Perl which other people had written, which I've never been able to find in Python. (I haven't looked hard recently, mind you.) For middle of the road stuff, Python is definitely an option. For anything weird (and I'm always attracted to weird problems), CPAN is the first port of call.
He was fluent in Perl and gave it up for Python. Then he wrote a book about Python. Does that make his viewpoint worthless? I don't think so.
Nope, me neither. Never said it was. But it doesn't make him right either. I'm fluent in Perl, and wouldn't give it up for Python. In some cases Perl is the best answer. Anyone who gives up a current and useful skill on the basis that something else has replaced it has clearly missed something. Perhaps he'll change his mind when he needs to write 150 RAID array test scripts? I find Python's main feature - object orientation - to be a total hinderance a lot of the time. Some problems just lend themselves to OO - GUI design is the best example, which is why I favour Py/Qt over Tcl/Tk for much GUI work these days. However, I find many - most? - of the problems I deal with have procedural solutions which are just as natural, if not more so than OO ones. Python forcing me to think in objects all the time, when I want to think: do this, then this, then this, often makes me veer towards Perl or Tcl.
"Tight" syntax facilitates writing unmaintainable code.
True, but that doesn't mean you have to! People can write crap code in any language.
I don't follow this conclusion because, IMO, the poster didn't give enough information to conclude that Tcl is his best choice. What if he needs more than small programs? Tcl then becomes a suboptimal choice. Harms ranks 7 languages in 7 categories, and the only 2 where Tcl ranked above Python is in GUI coding and development environment. Python ranked above Tcl in 3. Do you disagree with his assessment?
I haven't seen his assessment in full, but it sounds like I would, yes. For as start, I think Python/Qt is a better choice for large (and sometimes small) application GUI work than Tcl/Tk! The OP gave his critiera, and didn't mention program size, so I had to assume it wasn't relevant to him. I based my judgement on what he said was relevant. I answered the question he asked, and my answer, given that critiera set, is still Tcl.
The bottom line for me is that the original poster should look at Perl, Python, and Tcl and make his own choice.
Agreed. But he asked for guidance and that's what I tried to give. You shouldn't get me wrong here. Python is among the 5 scripting languages which I know and use on a regular basis. I like it, and it's my first choice for some types of work. What I really have a problem with is people who argue that there's one "best" language, or that other languages should be dropped in favour of another in all circumstances. What we'd call "religous arguments" if you like. -- "...our desktop is falling behind stability-wise and feature wise to KDE ...when I went to Mexico in December to the facility where we launched gnome, they had all switched to KDE3." - Miguel de Icaza, March 2003