[SwellJoe]

"as an alternative to C++ and Perl"

Do you have a citation for that? My understanding of the timeline and Guido's writings on the subject make it seem very unlikely that C++ or Perl had any significant impact on the decision to create Python or the design of Python. Python would very likely still exist in a world without C++ or Perl, as far as I can tell.

Python isn't even in the same lineage as either of those languages, though it shares a lot of features and patterns with Perl (as there has been some cross-pollination between the communities over the years). And, Python (started in 1989) is only a couple years newer than Perl (1987) and Perl was tiny enough to likely not really even be on Guido's radar at the time.

There may be a bunch of developers who think in terms of their own evolution as coders, and when they discovered various things, and your history may have Python coming well after Perl (I know I only started using Python professionally six or seven years after I first used Perl). But, I think you're overlaying your own perception onto events and it's distorting the actual history.

[inferiorhuman]

From the wikipedia entry:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Python_(programming_language)#...

"Over six years ago, in December 1989, I was looking for a "hobby" programming project that would keep me occupied during the week around Christmas. My office ... would be closed, but I had a home computer, and not much else on my hands. I decided to write an interpreter for the new scripting language I had been thinking about lately: a descendant of ABC that would appeal to Unix/C hackers. I chose Python as a working title for the project, being in a slightly irreverent mood (and a big fan of Monty Python's Flying Circus)."

[thesmallestcat]

Didn't Guido post a tongue-in-cheek ad for Python to a/the Perl mailing list in Python's early days? I tried to find it now but no luck.

[SwellJoe]

I don't remember it, but I wouldn't doubt it. Certainly, both Guido and Larry have made tongue-in-cheek comments about Perl and Python and the (good-natured) competition for mind share. And, features have been borrowed in both directions, and many developers have gone back and forth (I certainly have multiple times across a couple of decades).

[mlvljr]

>> My understanding of the timeline and Guido's writings on the subject make it seem very unlikely that C++ or Perl had any significant impact on the decision to create Python or the design of Python.

Look at slide 4 of http://www.aleax.it/Python/ep03_meta.pdf:

>>> "Putting Metaclasses to Work", by Ira Forman and Scott Danforth (AddisonWesley 1998) / strong influence on Python 2.2 & later /„ based on IBM SOMobjects & C++

That's only one thing coming to mind :) (immediately followed by the quote: "In the past, the subject of metaclasses in Python has caused hairs to raise and even brains to explode (see, for example Metaclasses in Python 1.5). Fortunately, in Python 2.2, metaclasses are more accessible and less dangerous." by Guido at https://www.python.org/download/releases/2.2/descrintro/ -- referencing same C++ book(s), actually)