[4dregress]

My view is I’m an engineer first and foremost and I use the tools which are best for the task at hand. That also means what’s best for the business in terms of others working on the project, this has meant python with some sort of framework.

People have suggested using other languages that might be faster but the business always choices what’s best for everyone to work with.

[rednafi]

Sure, it depends on the type and maturity of the business, as well as the availability of local talent. I've worked at three companies that started out with Python and Django, then transitioned to other technologies as the business scaled. In those environments, there were two kinds of developers: those who quickly adapted and picked up new languages, and those who wanted to remain "Python devs." The latter group didn’t have a great time moving forward.

What I don't like about the "Python + Framework + Postgres" argument is that it often lacks context. This is a formidable combination for starting a business and finding PMF. But unless you've seen Python and Postgres completely break under 100k RPS and petabyte-scale data, it's hard to understand the limitations just from words. Python is fantastic, but it has its limits and there are cases where it absolutely doesn't work. This “single language everywhere” mindset is how we ended up with JavaScript on the backend and desktop.

Anyone can write Python, and with LLMs, there's not much of a moat around knowing a single language. There's also no reason not to familiarize yourself with others, since it broadens your perspective. Of course, some businesses scale quite well with Python or JavaScript. But my point isn't to abandon Python. It's to gain experience in other languages so that when people criticize Python’s build tools, you can genuinely empathize with those concerns. Otherwise, comments like “Python tooling is fine” from people who have mostly worked with only Python are hard to take seriously.