I understand it (and code a hell of a lot of Python) - but it's a shame. While it's a lot better than the many low-barrier-to-entry languages that came before it, it is such a heavily compromised, suboptimal language in so many ways. I feel like a whole generation of programmers is becoming stuck in a local optimum that will cost us very dearly later on.
While you're likely correct that FORTRAN, COBOL, C, Visual Basic, C++, Perl, ColdFusion, Java, Javascript, and Python, were sub-optimal choices, they're just tools whose popularity boils down to current programming pop culture.
That being said, it could be something much worse than Python.
Well, this is how lengthy arguments start about pros and cons of languages, as there are many many people who will argue these are not problems or can be worked around or are actually preferable for whatever reasons.
But my biggest problems with Python are:
- Lack of strong enough / useful / culture around typing
- Effective limitation to single core through GIL
- Lack of proper solution to closures
Really the first two are the ones that make it for me, a fundamentally crippled language. And they are exactly the things you don't notice when starting out, and the things that limit you eventually.
