I will say something about Python though. Python people, I've noticed, seem to really love it. Like, irrationally. Am I a Python person? Perhaps- well, I've programmed a few thousand lines of code using that particular language. It's been said that a "real writer is one who really writes". Ok, credit where credit is due- that was vague. Truth to tell, it wasn't said by an anonymous "it's been said..." person. Marge Piercy said that, in a phenomenal poem. You should look it up- Google "phlogiston really writes" and I'm sure you'll find it.

But I digress. One could say that I'm a Python programmer, because I can and have written code in Python. So, do I love it? It's nice, it has its place. But I also write in Bash, lots of Bash, and it has its place as well even in the modern era. The reason I program in Bash is because it's a good, domain specific language *. It was built long ago based on some basic principles: That gluing together small, specific pieces makes for some powerful meta-programs. Thus the pipe was born, and I've been piping ever since I picked up Bash. The thing about principles is that they tend to transcend time- unlike flavors of Coke, or colors of M&Ms, principles like "Love your neighbor as yourself" or "Thou shalt not kill" were applicable in the 00's (the 0000's, not the "2000 and 00's") and they're applicable today. By the same token, piping together small programs is a phenomenal principal that has stood the test of time.

* Yes, you read that right: "Bash" + "good" + "language", all together in one sentence. There, I said it.

So how does Bash compare to Python? The truth is: It doesn't, not really. Bashing Bash from a comparison to Python is like trying to bash a Honda Civic from a comparison to Python, or bash a tomato from the perspective of Python. Ok, I exaggerate. But they're mostly for entirely different things. Ok, I exaggerate again. You *can* use Python for Bash-y things, like configuring network cards or system introspection, and you *can* use Bash for Python-y things, like manipulating data in hashes, but in each language's domain, why would you? Bash gets so ugly at a script of a certain size that sometime I find it best to just start over in Python. But the same is true with scripts that start in Python. I have seen scripts that are overly complicated Pythonese, and I marvel that the person bothered. I could do the same thing in 5 lines of Bash, and it would be easier to maintain and understand.