So when somebody this large releases an App Engine it impacts everyone. Is heroku as big as Google? No.

Languages are just a tool? All things come down the same bytecode or machine code eh?

Since you know several languages you know they are not equal in how one thinks about and solves problems using them. LISP closures != Java Objects – though yes you could express each concept (however painfully) in either. C++ templates are real generic programming compared to Java generics. In this case some concepts just don’t translate at all.

Problem spaces are best served by the right tools. APL IMO is the most terse and powerful math language I ever used, BUT I would not want it for UI coding or database interaction.

I really thought Prolog was great for rule based programming, but attempts I saw to add I/O and windowing were sickening.

Right tool for the job. Simple.

Can anyone publicly claim to be a master in every language they can sling some code in? No.

Being masterful at something means grokking it and that happens with real deep use and suffering. Books get you started but only doing burns it in… deeply.

People who do more than hop from one language to the next doing nothing very deep don’t lose anything. People who are working to solve real problems and get a profitable product out on a language have a real investment… a hard won bit of wisdom that no podcast can replace.

In parting, Engine to me implies a decoupled and generic facility for performing some task… not a platform or framework that dictates how you (re)code *your* business model.

To me this effort by Google falls short of engine and seems like Django++. I might like it, I might use it, but I won’t bash others who feel a bit set upon having to lose their investment and wisdom because of this.

In terms of Google App Engine I feel it is largely true that Python should not be a barrier to anyone using it and benefiting from it.

I had a brief try of GAE and found the Python was a relatively simple language to learn. It seemed to lack some of the tricky syntax of Ruby. Overall Python only support is not a compelling reason not to use GAE. BTW I mainly use VB.NET, some C# and Java in a past life.

But it is rather a stretch to say that “langauge is just a tool”. Hopefully it is a way to be the most productive you can be and work with a team or community of other developers.

I didn’t agree with you first, but last paragraph makes sense for me…

The irony…

you know something, the english language is also just a tool. okay now, let me put you in Iran or China or Japan and working in an entirely non-english speaking environment, and i tell you – language is just a tool!

A specific language is just a specific tool.

Ruby ~ crescent wrench
Perl ~ vice grips
Java ~ a jumbo socket and open end wrench set from Sears that comes in the big red cart on wheels with drawers everywhere.
Python ~ Leatherman tool ( though most everybody hates snakes)

Just pick the right tool for the job.

Yes, you can do a lot with a good crescent wrench, especially if you use that crescent wrench for 8 hours a day and have painstakingly customized it’s IDE it for yourself. And you know 5 experts on a crescent wrench you can call at 4:00am and tell you what design patterns to use to make it work as a screwdriver.

Here is the key >> you have to be a good mechanic to use all the tools. Understanding the basics of programming and a real grokking object-oriented programming in particular.

Then, a it is a matter of a couple of weeks to become adequately proficient in a new language to begin a project. By the end of the project, you will be fluent.

Some say that learning the ins and outs of a new language is unproductive and a waste of time. Well, no more so that spending weeks putting in screws with a crescent wrench.

The root of all of this angst about languages may come improper division of project responsibilities for a project between web application programmers and
web designers. Web 2.0 makes it damn hard to find both skill sets in one person. But back in the 90’s… the livin’ was easy.