Performance is a big one. GIL is still a thorn in Python's side, although somewhat ironically CGI side-steps that. Then there's the environment configuration, which is just one big footgun. And then there's error handling. I find python scripts with ticking time bombs all the time.

The maintenance burden of Python projects is just so much higher than it has any right to be. The language is neat, but not that neat. I think too often we think of performance as a sort of "tradeoff" for having a bad, unergonomic language, but that's not necessarily true. Plenty of languages have poor performance and are also a pain in the ass. We no longer live in a world where our options are C++ or scripting languages. We have mature environments with fantastic tooling. We have fast compilers with amazing error messages. We have great runtimes with more than adequate performance.

That makes sense to me. Which alternatives are you favoring, especially for the kind of prototyping stuff that is Python's strong point?

I do think there are some inherent tradeoffs in the space.

Go is a great choice these days pretty much exclusively due to the tooling. Turns out having a good compiler that's really, really fast is a big deal.

My main issue with prototyping as a concept is that it doesn't exist in most workplaces. Prototypes quickly devolve into applications. Discarding code is risky. Your best bet IMO is choosing a language that's ergonomic in the long run, because odds are you're in for the long run.

dotnet is another great choice because of the tooling and batteries included, although you do have to deal with a fairly slow compiler. Java is okay too, but Java is very restrictive and high-friction, which might not lend itself to prototyping.

In the world of scripting languages, ironically PHP is a decent choice. It has better progressive typing than Python and it's reasonably safe these days. We've sort of come full circle on PHP. The downside is that PHP programmers tend to throw everything in an array, especially when going fast. That hurts readability and the IDE a lot.

And then, of course, typescript and node. I don't like typescript. There's something about scripting languages with build steps that pisses me off. But, it's got a wide developer pool and it's not the worst language ever. Although there's a bit too much teeth-pulling IMO with typescript.

Thank you! There seems to be a TypeScript REPL at https://typestrong.org/ts-node/, so it's at least feasible...

Neat, thank you, didn't know about the TS REPL. I heard there's some talk to standardize TS in browsers, which would be nice.