I’m trying to decide what language to learn next and I’m really leaning towards Python. I figure that I can master C# at work since the big project relies on it and I’m pretty much done with Java (as much as I like it) because I just can’t seem to get any traction on using it. I’ve heard a lot of good things about Python and the PyObjC seems to have reached stable, mainstream status. Plus, Panther now lets Python into the Quartz graphics libraries, which suggests that Python is poised to break into first-language status in Mac OS X—joining Objective-C, Java, and AppleScript.
This essay about the utility of Python as a first language in computer science swayed me. Perhaps after getting comfortable with Python (and mucking about in Zope), it will open me up to getting comfortable with Cocoa and Objective-C—my inevitable goal. Plus, there’s so many great books online about learning it.
[UPDATE (11/4/03): I just found this great series of interviews with Bruce Eckel on the subject of Python. Awesome perspective!]