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content/thoughts/python-loses-2nd-place-loved-language.md

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+title = "Python Losing the 2nd Place on Loved Languages: A Thought"
+date = 2020-06-08
+
+[taxonomies]
+tags = ["python", "typescript", "stackoverflow", "survey"]
++++
+
+On this year StackOverflow Survey, Python lost its 2nd place to TypeScript. On
+our Python group, people started wondering why that. And I just thought it
+would be nice to post my thoughts on the situation.
+
+<!-- more -->
+
+Before anything, I may have do make a disclaimer saying that I do love Python,
+and I think it is a great language 'cause it is very concise but also very
+expressive. I don't think any other language get close to Python in doing
+those points so well.
+
+Disclaimer done, let me explain why I think Python lost its second place in
+the hearts of developers.
+
+## Types
+
+One of the first thoughts one can think when we talk about "losing a
+position" in any rank is "because it got worse". But I really don't think this
+is what happened here, and what actually happened is that TypeScript shown
+developers something better.
+
+TypeScript is aimed to JavaScript development, a zone where anything goes,
+types are very flexible and magical -- to the point what most of things
+actually produce a [Wat](https://www.destroyallsoftware.com/talks/wat). By
+using types, making sure you're not adding a string to an array, a lot of
+problems suddenly disappear. It is no silver bullet, but it fixes a whole
+class of issues that would popup in production.
+
+So, in an environment that chaotic things happen, suddenly you have something
+that puts order back and you gotta love it for that. Surely, it's not just
+types that make TypeScript more loved than JavaScript, but it is partially
+why.
+
+(Just to add to this point: Rust is still the most loved language 5 years in a
+row, and it uses some pretty strong typing, close do Haskell, with added
+syntax closer to what most languages use.)
+
+I still believe that, in the long run, type hinting can fill the gap for
+Python to reach the proper position. I'd love to use it to add hinting in all
+functions and then have something that I could set the level of checking on
+different environments: make the application crash if the function was called
+with the wrong types on development environment; just log (logging or stderr)
+on staging; and do absolutely nothing on production. That would allow me to
+use the best of both worlds: Dynamic when developing, but static when testing.
+
+## Python 2 is dead
+
+One of the things that happened to Python in the beginning of this year, when
+the survey was done, was that Python 2 became unsupported. Surely, that
+doesn't mean any Python 2 installation would stop working, but it gave an
+extra jump to porting things to Python 3.
+
+And, even with all the backporting and improvements in Python 3, it was not a
+smooth sail. That change, that forced change, may have let some Python devs
+with some bitter taste about the language. No one wants to just fix changes in
+the language, when the way things work must still work, quirks and all.
+
+## Hype
+
+Python is not a hyped language anymore.
+
+Sure, it is still a reference for machine learning and related fields, but the
+once thriving environment of web dev was taking by the hype of other
+languages.
+
+Python is not the hot stuff on web dev anymore. And because it is not the hot
+stuff, people don't _want_ the old stuff; the old stuff is not cool anymore,
+so they don't like it anymore.
+
+## Side-point
+
+One point not raised by anyone in the group: Although Python lost its second
+place, it is still the most wanted language -- meaning, it is the language
+most developers _want_ to learn. If the general feeling was "Python sucks!", I
+pretty much doubt the want would still be representative -- and Python have a
+large lead compared to JavaScript.