Talk:Python

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Python is also a object oriented programming language used very often on the Internet by web based tools such as Google.

[edit] Disambiguation issues

I moved Python (disambiguation) to Python and Python to Python (snake) to make the Wikipedia easier to navigate. A large number of the python links were about the language and this will reduce the average number of clicks to get around. Daniel Quinlan 09:37, Mar 8, 2005 (UTC)

This sounds like a reasonable move. I think Python should redirect to Python (disambiguation) due to how common the alternative meanings are. --Karnesky 06:17, 6 February 2006 (UTC)

Seems to me that most things named "Python" are named after the snake, thus one would assume that the most predominant link should be the page on the snake, and the disambiguation link at the top should be enough to direct anyone else to where they want to go. Not that I care either way, just figured I'd be devil's advocate for a moment. -Dawson 22:31, 6 February 2006 (UTC)

The snake is undisputably the primary meaning of "Python"; all other uses flow from it. Wikipedia editors are generally very computer-literate and frequently programming-literate, and so they would often associate the word Python with the programming language. However, that's not how the general educated public sees it; few outside the programming community would ever have heard of or have any interest in the Python programming language. Wikipedia aims to be a general encyclopedia, and so we must be careful not to allow computer-related meanings to hijack the primary meanings of words. Rwxrwxrwx 20:51, 1 April 2006 (UTC)

I agree with Rwxrwxrwx: "Python" should point to Python (snake) and not to Python (disambiguation). A poll in the street will show that 99% of the population expect Python to be a snake (even most of the programming-literate population will expect it). I propose moving Python to Python (snake) and adding a link on that page to Python (disambiguation).Tos 08:53, 14 November 2007 (UTC)

I agree again. Make it the default show Python (snake) and not Python (disambiguation)! Wilbot (talk) 09:59, 5 December 2007 (UTC)

This discussion is a bit out of touch with reality, seeing as significant changes have taken place in the mean time. Python (snake) is currently a redirect to Pythonidae, which is the article that describes the entire python family, while Python (disambiguation) is a redirect to this page, Python, which is now the disambiguation page for this term. By the way, there's also Python (genus), which is potentially confusing, and therefore one of the reasons why I believe it's better to keep Python as a disambiguation page. --Jwinius (talk) 14:49, 5 December 2007 (UTC)

Python (programming language) should without doubt be moved to Python, and the disambiguation page linked from the top of that article. Regardless of what the "core" meaning of Python is, browsing through the top (non-wikipedia) google hits shows that at least on the Internet, python is a programming language. The first result that isn't talking about the PL python is #20, which is about Monty Python. Snakes aren't mentioned until result #40. Otherwise, the out of the top 40 google hits for the query "python", 37 are talking about the programming language—Trevor Caira (talk) 22:07, 29 December 2007 (UTC).

Move Python (programming language) to Python simply on the basis of Google search results? I disagree. It's much more likely that people in general think of the snakes first. The Internet may have grown immensely, but I would think it obvious why computer related subjects still have the more dominant presence in cyberspace. --Jwinius (talk) 23:00, 29 December 2007 (UTC)

I agree with Jwinius - by your logic, the link to Pascal should point to the formerly-widely-used programming language rather than the person. 99% of people have no idea there even is a programming language of that name, but everyone is at least vaguely familiar with giant snakes called pythons. The snake definition should be primary, with all others located on a disambiguation page. Mokele (talk) 02:08, 30 December 2007 (UTC)

The primary meaning of Python is the snake. The programming language was named after comedy troupe, which in turn was named after the snake. Thus, having Python be about the programming language wouldn't make much sense. -- RoySmith (talk) 02:25, 30 December 2007 (UTC)

IMO, the current situation, which is already an acknowledgement of the many other things that are referred to as "python", is fine the way it is. I should also point out the confusing fact that with the snakes the family is called Pythonidae, while one of the genera below it is simply called Python. It looked really awkward when the article for the family was also called Python. So, I think that in this environment there may be no perfect solution, but what we have here comes pretty close. --Jwinius (talk) 12:46, 30 December 2007 (UTC)

I gotta say, I think this is a bit daft. Python should go to one of the snake articles, not a disambig page. Python the programming language is utterly obscure to the general population, compared to phython having to do with snakes. Wasted Time R (talk) 01:45, 29 January 2008 (UTC)

Not entirely. See my last comment directly above yours. --Jwinius (talk) 02:24, 29 January 2008 (UTC)

Shouldn't it be based on what most people will be searching on? By and far that would be researching the programming language. Look at search engine results, they are pro's at finding what people want. Daniel.Cardenas (talk) 14:40, 29 January 2008 (UTC)

The world is not defined by Google. Of course there's more information on the Internet about computer related subjects than there is about snakes, but that doesn't make it an accurate reflection of what people know about in general. In truth, if you ask people what they first think of when they see the word python, most will say a snake. Only a small number will mention the programming language or something else. --Jwinius (talk) 16:32, 29 January 2008 (UTC)

If we're going to start giving priority to the most prominent search engine result, I suspect a lot of beauty spa enthusiasts are going to be very, very surprised by what facial redirects to. Mokele (talk) 04:56, 31 January 2008 (UTC)

The prominence of Python on Google is likely due to many pages linking to the official Python the Language homepage. There's no official Python the Snake homepage, so this could be why it has a higher PageRank. The snake results are there too, but more fragmented across pages. This is the major fallacy in the argument to me and I'm surprised it hasn't been brought up much. Google simply cannot be used as a guide, at least not in this case. Maybe if we compare the PageRanks of two US president candidates, but an animal like in this case is impossible to compare to a lanugage that has an official homepage, thus boosting its PageRank massively from Google counting inbound links to it. Pretty much any language tutorial will link to the Python home, just as one example. A page about pythons may point to a much broader range of websites. Personally, I wholeheartedly support a redirect to Python the Snake with a note to the disambiguation page on top, possibly with Python the Language given extra attention as a quick link. — Northgrove 11:37, 8 June 2008 (UTC)

I agree with most of your argument, but prefer the status quo. See my statement above from 12:46, 30 December 2007 (UTC). --Jwinius (talk) 16:06, 8 June 2008 (UTC)

fyi: Some data: Python programming language was viewed 79,000 times in the month of May[1]. Pythonidae was visited 20,400 times[2]. The disambiguation page was visited 41,500 times[3]. Daniel.Cardenas (talk) 14:20, 8 June 2008 (UTC)

wp:mosdab says to put the most common usage at the top of the page. Given the above stats, does this mean the programming language should be listed first? Daniel.Cardenas (talk) 17:24, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

That always sounds like an easy solution, but WP's "most common usage" guideline is pretty vague. After all, how do you measure "most common"? If you look to the Internet for an answer your results will always be skewed towards computer related subjects. Is that fair? I don't think so. For example, according to stats.grok.se, our article on the C programming language is much more popular than our article on the letter C. So, should we change the former to "C" and the latter to "C (letter)"? Not in my estimation. For the same reason, I don't believe that we should regard the programming language as being the primary usage of "Python." The only difference here is that, for technical (taxonomic) reasons, I believe it would also be unhelpful to use "Python" for a snake article. --Jwinius (talk) 19:16, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Programming language

there's a programming program called Python. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.96.151.245 (talk) 13:43, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

There's already a link in this article to Python (programming language). Perhaps the "programming program" you refer to is a compiler or interpreter for this. --Jwinius (talk) 15:47, 28 December 2007 (UTC)