Python is for people who want to program

Saw a great quote the other day on comp.lang.python, in response to a troll questioning Python's usefulness in the "real" world:

Python is for people who want to program, not REAL WORLD programmers.

(Python encourages a sense of fun, and people on the comp.lang.python group tend to like to have fun taking the piss out of trolls.)

Not that "real world" programmers don't use Python — just that people who place a lot of value on being a "real world" programmer are probably using Java or C# or something. Meanwhile, people use Python because it's a great language and they love programming in it, not because it will make people think they're "real world" programmers.

This goes back to the Python Paradox described by Paul Graham: python programmers are generally good hires, not because Python is (necessarily) a better language than Java or C#, but because

…people don't learn Python because it will get them a job; they learn it because they genuinely like to program and aren't satisfied with the languages they already know.

This is becoming less of a sure thing as Python gains popularity and starts to look good on "real world" resumes, but I think it's still true that people use Python because they like it.