Python was the first language I ever loved. And I've defended it, and especially its whitespace for block structure, more times than I can count. (One Perl programmer I know can't mention Python without describing it as "that whitespace language", and I couldn't understand why until I saw some of his, ahem, "creatively indented" Perl code. I'm so anal about indentation that I really never noticed.)
But eventually I realized that whitespace is an Achilles heel in one context: using Python as an HTML-embedded template language---unfortunately, a very important case. Seeing this Django book, and finally understanding how they solved the template-language problem with Python, appears to confirm this intuition. They solve it the same way all Python frameworks solve it: they introduce a separate, template-specific language.
This is one big reason why I love Ruby, and Rails. Because Ruby uses an "end" keyword, it works great as an HTML-embedded language. This means that, in Rails, you always have a full-strength language at your disposal, and never have to use a watered-down template language.
It's possible that Django is awesome nonetheless---it does seem to be attracting some first-rate hackers---and I could certainly be convinced to switch, but being able to use embedded Ruby will keep me firmly in the Rails camp for the time being.
But eventually I realized that whitespace is an Achilles heel in one context: using Python as an HTML-embedded template language---unfortunately, a very important case. Seeing this Django book, and finally understanding how they solved the template-language problem with Python, appears to confirm this intuition. They solve it the same way all Python frameworks solve it: they introduce a separate, template-specific language.
This is one big reason why I love Ruby, and Rails. Because Ruby uses an "end" keyword, it works great as an HTML-embedded language. This means that, in Rails, you always have a full-strength language at your disposal, and never have to use a watered-down template language.
It's possible that Django is awesome nonetheless---it does seem to be attracting some first-rate hackers---and I could certainly be convinced to switch, but being able to use embedded Ruby will keep me firmly in the Rails camp for the time being.