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Comment by goodoldboys | Hacker News Reader

As someone who works with Python every day, this isn't surprising. I forget where I heard/read it, but someone made the claim that Python is the "second best language for everything" (paraphrasing) and I couldn't agree more. Need to create a web app that interfaces with a data pipeline? Python/Django/Flask is perfect. There are countless other examples too.

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Why second best? I think it is the best for almost everything. One reason is that its grammar is so intuitive, that you only need to think about the problem to solve. With other languages, you always need to look out for grammar issues.

I agree that Python works well for just about everything but wish there was a framework between Django & Flask.

The most popular framework that fits this description might be Pyramid [1].

[1]: https://trypyramid.com/

Agreed! I lean much more towards Flask (I'd rather have too much simplicity than too much complexity), but something in the middle would be fantastic.

A simple application structure with loose enough rules and a strong standard library is what I would like. Flask can be too little, Django can be too big.

Have you looked at: http://www.django-rest-framework.org/

and the Lightweight Django book: http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920032502.do

Pyramid is exactly that.

Use Django and strip out the middleware and admin/authentication addons.

see https://github.com/lightweightdjango

auth is a must-have (i've never written an app that did not need basic auth) and admin is a very, very nice to have. It still feels "thick" to me in other areas.

I like to keep things modular, if you're looking for API development Falcon is a lightweight DIY solution (https://falconframework.org/).

Which is the first?

I believe the idea is that the best language for any given situation will vary depending on the situation.

The point, I guess, is that Python isn't really optimal at anything but is very good at a lot of things.

Realistically, there are enough software fields that Python just isn't applicable for this to be taken with a pinch of salt. However, as a language, it does have quite a large sweet spot: easy to pick up, expressive, integrates well with low level languages for heavy lifting and almost perl quantities of libraries.

IMO its popularity is justified although I'm not a fan myself.

It depends on the context. The joke is that everything has a most optimal language and Python is never the most optimal language- but it has got breadth.

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