Ok but seriously what can I use #Python for that I can't use Node or PHP for? Are there use cases where it's actually *better* to use one #programming language over another? I want to learn but have so far had absolutely no reason to.
@Alamantus I guess if you need a fast program Python is apparently actually really good for that https://glyph.twistedmatrix.com/2022/04/you-should-compile-your-python-and-heres-why.html
@Alamantus A lot of it is libraries. Python has a mature set for natural language processing and pretty good numerical/statistical crunching that I find lacking over in the Node and C# arena.
Also, you have APIs for other programs only in one language since everyone hasn't jumped on the web assembly bandwagon. :D
@Alamantus It's more about the ecosystem than the language capabilities per se. The libraries and frameworks available in a language make it suitable for certain problems and not others.
For eg: If you intend to run code in the browsers, Javascript is what you should begin: even if it's technically possible to convert any code into WebAssembly and run it.
Python has some good libraries for number-crunching like numpy and pandas and a lot of code from academia has been written in it.
There are other languages which are good in certain other ways: Golang, Julia, Crystal, Elixir.
I have adopted a Just-in-time philosophy to learning languages/libraries etc. I will learn something only when it's the best choice for my problem/project.
@Alamantus Sometimes it's about ecosystem - for example, a huge amount of machine learning libraries and tooling are currently in python, making it a big advantage to use python in that domain right now
Data types can be a thing. PHP has few, JS even fewer?
@Alamantus I… don't think so? It all comes down to tooling an stuff like that for me. I've even moved to write small scripts I'd usually write in Python in PHP because I'm more familiar with it these days