Is Python "venerable"?

[Roy Smith]

A quote from Computer World (http://tinyurl.com/bxqjed8):

"... the Python Software Foundation (PSF) - a non-profit supporting the
venerable Python programming language ..."

Venerable? Come on. Fortran is venerable. Cobol is venerable. Old
farts use things that are venerable. I don't want to be an old fart
(not that I have much say in the matter).

I use Python because I want to be one of the cool kids, doing new hip
stuff. Has the language really progressed to the point where it's being
called "venerable"? If I want to be one of the cool kids, am I now
going to have to switch to Lua or Scala or (please, no) JavaScript?

 

[MRAB]

A quote from Computer World (http://tinyurl.com/bxqjed8):

"... the Python Software Foundation (PSF) - a non-profit supporting the
venerable Python programming language ..."

Venerable? Come on. Fortran is venerable. Cobol is venerable. Old
farts use things that are venerable. I don't want to be an old fart
(not that I have much say in the matter).

I use Python because I want to be one of the cool kids, doing new hip
stuff. Has the language really progressed to the point where it's being
called "venerable"? If I want to be one of the cool kids, am I now
going to have to switch to Lua or Scala or (please, no) JavaScript?

I believe that the cools kids don't use the word "hip" any more.

 

[Barry W Brown]

A quote from Computer World (http://tinyurl.com/bxqjed8):



"... the Python Software Foundation (PSF) - a non-profit supporting the

venerable Python programming language ..."



Venerable? Come on. Fortran is venerable. Cobol is venerable. Old

farts use things that are venerable. I don't want to be an old fart

(not that I have much say in the matter).



I use Python because I want to be one of the cool kids, doing new hip

stuff. Has the language really progressed to the point where it's being

called "venerable"? If I want to be one of the cool kids, am I now

going to have to switch to Lua or Scala or (please, no) JavaScript?

Homer Simpson put it accurately last night. "I used to be with it when
I was younger. But it moved and now what I am with is no longer it."

 

[Dennis Lee Bieber]

Venerable? Come on. Fortran is venerable. Cobol is venerable. Old
farts use things that are venerable. I don't want to be an old fart
(not that I have much say in the matter).

For over a decade now I've described /myself/ as either being
"venerable moving on to revered" or "revered moving on to venerable"

 

[Gene Heskett]

I believe that the cools kids don't use the word "hip" any more.

And even us old (78) farts are calling things Kewl now.

Cheers, Gene
--
"There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
-Ed Howdershelt (Author)
My web page: <http://coyoteden.dyndns-free.com:85/gene> is up!
My views
<http://www.armchairpatriot.com/What Has America Become.shtml>
History is nothing but a collection of fables and useless trifles,
cluttered up with a mass of unnecessary figures and proper names.
-- Leo Tolstoy
I was taught to respect my elders, but its getting
harder and harder to find any...

 

[Steven D'Aprano]

A quote from Computer World (http://tinyurl.com/bxqjed8):

"... the Python Software Foundation (PSF) - a non-profit supporting the
venerable Python programming language ..."

Venerable? Come on. Fortran is venerable. Cobol is venerable. Old
farts use things that are venerable. I don't want to be an old fart
(not that I have much say in the matter).

Venerable does not mean "old". It means worthy of veneration. Cobol is
not venerable. Cobol is *just old*.'


Definition of VENERABLE:
1: deserving to be venerated —used as a title for an Anglican archdeacon
or for a Roman Catholic who has been accorded the lowest of three degrees
of recognition for sanctity
2: made sacred especially by religious or historical association
3a : calling forth respect through age, character, and attainments <a
venerable jazz musician>; broadly : conveying an impression of aged
goodness and benevolence <encouraged by the venerable doctor's head-
nodding>
b: impressive by reason of age <under venerable pines>


http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/venerable

I use Python because I want to be one of the cool kids, doing new hip
stuff. Has the language really progressed to the point where it's being
called "venerable"? If I want to be one of the cool kids, am I now
going to have to switch to Lua or Scala or (please, no) JavaScript?

Scala? That's sooooooo 2003. That's a decade old! The cool kids are using
Go or Coffeescript. If you want to get ahead of the cool kids, you want
to look at cutting edge languages like Ceylon.


Lua is even older than Javascript and nearly as mature as Python:

Javascript: 1994
Lua: 1993
Python: 1991

 

[rusi]

A quote from Computer World (http://tinyurl.com/bxqjed8):

Thanks for the link/update

"... the Python Software Foundation (PSF) - a non-profit supporting the
venerable Python programming language ..."

Heh! I am reminded:
Some years ago a new reprint of Knuth's Art of Programming had on the
back cover something to the effect that this was 'classical CS.'

So what then is pop-CS, folk-CS?

 

[Rui Maciel]

Heh! I am reminded:
Some years ago a new reprint of Knuth's Art of Programming had on the
back cover something to the effect that this was 'classical CS.'

So what then is pop-CS, folk-CS?

Knuth's work is undoubtedly classic.

Classic:

1.
of the first or highest quality, class, or rank: a classic piece of work.
2.
serving as a standard, model, or guide: the classic method of teaching
arithmetic.


http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/classic


Rui Maciel

 

[Peter Otten]

Thanks for the link/update


Heh! I am reminded:
Some years ago a new reprint of Knuth's Art of Programming had on the
back cover something to the effect that this was 'classical CS.'

So what then is pop-CS,

"Teach Yourself HTML in 24 Hours"

 

[Chris Angelico]

Knuth's work is undoubtedly classic.

Classic, yes, but the book said "classical", which is a style of music
covering Bach interwoven with Spohr and Beethoven (at classical Monday
pops). The billiard sharp whom anyone catches... oops, never mind that
bit. I suppose it'd still be the art of programming, just a slightly
different art. That would explain, though, why so many computer
programmers enjoy music...

ChrisA

 

[rusi]

Classic, yes, but the book said "classical", which is a style of music
covering Bach interwoven with Spohr and Beethoven (at classical Monday
pops). The billiard sharp whom anyone catches... oops, never mind that
bit. I suppose it'd still be the art of programming, just a slightly
different art. That would explain, though, why so many computer
programmers enjoy music...

ChrisA

I was part joking and part serious when asking whats pop/folk CS
because I explore this in my blog:
http://blog.languager.org/2011/02/cs-education-is-fat-and-weak-3.html

 

[Albert Hopkins]

]

And even us old (78) farts are calling things Kewl now.

78??? Is that the year you were born or the years since you were born?

-a

 

[Steve Simmons]

]

And even us old (78) farts are calling things Kewl now.

78??? Is that the year you were born or the years since you were born?

-a

Yeah, 2078 - Marty McFly, Back From the Future. Kewl !! ;-)

 

[Chris Angelico]

]

And even us old (78) farts are calling things Kewl now.

78??? Is that the year you were born or the years since you were born?

-a

Yeah, 2078 - Marty McFly, Back From the Future. Kewl !! ;-)

Flux capacitor is... uhh... fluxing?
-- Marty, lampshading the whole "we don't really care how this thing
works but it does" thing

ChrisA

 

[Gene Heskett]

]

And even us old (78) farts are calling things Kewl now.

78??? Is that the year you were born or the years since you were born?

-a

Born in Oct 1934. 78yo now.

Cheers, Gene
--
"There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
-Ed Howdershelt (Author)
My web page: <http://coyoteden.dyndns-free.com:85/gene> is up!
My views
<http://www.armchairpatriot.com/What Has America Become.shtml>
Ralph's Observation:
It is a mistake to let any mechanical object realise that you
are in a hurry.
I was taught to respect my elders, but its getting
harder and harder to find any...

 

[Rotwang]

[...]

Homer Simpson put it accurately last night. "I used to be with it when
I was younger. But it moved and now what I am with is no longer it."

Sorry to be pedantic, but the quote you're thinking of is from Abe Simpson:

 

[rh]

Venerable does not mean "old". It means worthy of veneration. Cobol
is not venerable. Cobol is *just old*.'


Definition of VENERABLE:
1: deserving to be venerated —used as a title for an Anglican
archdeacon or for a Roman Catholic who has been accorded the lowest
of three degrees of recognition for sanctity
2: made sacred especially by religious or historical association
3a : calling forth respect through age, character, and attainments <a
venerable jazz musician>; broadly : conveying an impression of aged
goodness and benevolence <encouraged by the venerable doctor's head-
nodding>
b: impressive by reason of age <under venerable pines>

So a venerable cult then.
cult:
group/sect bound together by veneration of some thing, person, ideal, etc.

Whether a sect or group remains to be worked out. Probably not a tuple.

 

[rh]

A quote from Computer World (http://tinyurl.com/bxqjed8):

"... the Python Software Foundation (PSF) - a non-profit supporting
the venerable Python programming language ..."

Venerable? Come on. Fortran is venerable. Cobol is venerable. Old
farts use things that are venerable. I don't want to be an old fart
(not that I have much say in the matter).

I use Python because I want to be one of the cool kids, doing new hip
stuff. Has the language really progressed to the point where it's
being called "venerable"? If I want to be one of the cool kids, am I
now going to have to switch to Lua or Scala or (please, no)
JavaScript?

ECMAScript then.