21.9 In the Final Analysis...

I hope this book has taught you something about Python, both the language and its roles. Beyond this text, there is really no substitute for doing some original Python programming. Be sure to grab a reference source or two to help you along the way.

The task of programming computers will probably always be challenging. Perhaps happily, there will continue to be a need for intelligent software engineers, skilled at translating real-world tasks into computer-executable form, at least for the foreseeable future. (After all, if it were too easy, none of us would get paid. :-)

But current development practice and tools make our tasks unnecessarily difficult: many of the obstacles faced by software developers are purely artificial. We have come far in our quest to improve the speed of computers; the time has come to focus our attentions on improving the speed of development. In an era of constantly shrinking schedules, productivity must be paramount.

Python, as a mixed-paradigm tool, has the potential to foster development modes that simultaneously leverage the benefits of rapid development and of traditional languages. While Python won't solve all the problems of the software industry, it offers hope for making programming simpler, faster, and at least a little more enjoyable.

It may not get us off that island altogether, but it sure beats bananas and coconuts.