I've not messed much with Python, but it's much like Perl and PHP in that they all have a C-like syntax to them (aside from all starting with 'P'). Python is probably more disciplined than the others, due to how it can use specifically installed libraries/packages to expand how it's used. Personally, I prefer doing quick and dirty scripting in PHP. It, like Java, can be confusing if the correct base version isn't used you end up with a lot of depricated stuff that used to work well, but no longer does. I've done things in Python and Perl, but mostly modifying things that already existed. I have written several PHP scripts for years. Years ago I wrote a script that interfaced with the VOA's frequency database in Oracle for a portable frequency management system I was writing in Borland Delphi (Pascal-based). Also have something that displays whether posts were correctly scheduled in WordPress (it's actually a very small WP plug-in). Also have a script that takes the web site's RSS feed, embeds the titles of the last ten articles on an image (like a magazine cover), and then Tweets it to the website account - cron'd to occur three times a day. I even use a PHP script that runs as part of an Excel macro (via a shell) to generate a weekly Injury League table that gets posted. So you can see it's pretty versatile. Not sure why I turned this into a sales pitch for PHP, but there you are.
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