[orn688]

To be honest, I feel like Python's philosophy makes it easier to focus on the "craft" of programming; instead of worrying about small details like how to iterate through a collection, I'm able to just do it the boring-but-effective Pythonic way and move on to higher-level details of the program. So I guess I'm not strictly disagreeing with you, but I think the craft of programming is about far more than just how your code looks, and I find Python to be excellent for pursuing those other areas of craftsmanship.

[furgooswft13]

I suppose so, but the higher level details of a program will often follow from the nature of the language you are coding it in. I know a lot of my code would be "architected" differently if the language I was working in had a general disdain for passing anonymous functions around, and I don't think it would end up as effective.

And finding new more effective ways to do common things, new tricks so to speak, is important in keeping the mind engaged.

The tools might not be as important as the end product, but for the person who is always using those tools, being able to improve and customize them to their liking is extremely important.

I guess the difference is a programming language is less a tool than an end product in itself, that needs to be able to be understood and modified by other people. As opposed to say, a plumbers preferred toolset, of which no trace will be left when the next person comes to do the job.