Python (and IronPython) for Executives

By Michael Foord -
ophirk has published a great essay on getting Python / IronPython accepted as a development language within the company he works for:
IronPython has worked well for them because of easy integration with C# and the .NET infrastructure.

He lists the four main fears that their managers had to face in adopting Python:
  • Recruiting - It turns out that smart and innovative people are attracted by Python .Innovative smart people can also learn Python very quickly.
  • Risk - in one year we had only five cases where a Python specific bug occurred. We had many more ASP. NET, JavaScript, HTML and even Java specific problems.
  • Maturity - not only is Python very solid, so is IronPython. The code is stable, the smart features work, the community is responsive and the libraries are rich. The only downside is the IDE and Visual studio integration, but this is progressing as well.
  • Performance - Python flexibility allowed extremely fast optimizations at the system and algorithmic levels, without requiring premature optimization. The system and algorithm changes are the ones critical in a real world environment. Some issues are showing up, but it seems they can be solved with a reasonable cost.

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