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> they liked something about Python

I think it's simply what they already knew. Very few programmers learn multiple languages to any kind of depth.

Is there any evidence that Python is an easy language to learn? I think we've reached a situation where beginners learn Python because it's seen as beginner friendly... because beginners learn Python!

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It's definitely easier than many other languages to start learning. Absolute beginners don't want to worry about overflow, signedness, or anything like that. They just want to add some numbers and have it work. Python isn't perfect by any stretch, but having syntax like "for x in y:" goes a long way towards helping beginners not have to care about stuff they're not ready for yet.

Admittedly, that's just an opinion. I don't know of any relevant studies, but Python wasn't always the preferred language for beginners, and it changed at some point. It feels like there must be a reason for that.

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