Guido Van Rossum Quotes

Python is an experiment in how much freedom programmers need. Too much freedom and nobody can read another's code; too little and expressiveness is endangered.

If you decide to design your own language, there are thousands of sort of amateur language designer pitfalls.

Don't you hate code that's not properly indented? Making it [indenting] part of the syntax guarantees that all code is properly indented.

I have this hope that there is a better way. Higher-level tools that actually let you see the structure of the software more clearly will be of tremendous value.

My own perception of that is somewhat colored by where people ask my advice, which is still, of course, about changes to Python internals or at least standard libraries.

Mark Hammond is working in this area, with Windows Scripting Host. It is definitely an area where Python fits almost perfectly. That's quite independent from Java, actually.

Modern programs must handle Unicode —Python has excellent support for Unicode, and will keep getting better.