> Python, Ruby, Lisp, Pascal (though I still plan to explore those). Oh, and find a good scripting language, in addition to one from the compiled language group

It's interesting that you want to explore Python and Ruby more but seem to consider finding a good scripting language as a separate goal. They're both definitely scripting languages, so if you don't expect either to be good, why do you want to explore them more?

Could you clarify? I couldn't relate these back to my comment:

* but seem to consider ... separate goal

* if you don't expect either to be good

Sorry for the confusion; the part of the comment I was responding to was this:

> I had this list of languages to explore in more depth: Python, Ruby, Lisp, Pascal (though I still plan to explore those). Oh, and find a good scripting language, in addition to one from the compiled language group.

The phrasing of "oh, and find a good scripting language" makes it sound like that's a completely separate goal than exploring Python, Ruby, etc. in depth. It reads to me like you plan to explore those four languages, then afterwards go find a good scripting language. This doesn't seem like it would be necessary if you find either Python or Ruby to be a good scripting language when you explore them, which implies that you don't expect to have found either of them to be good. Given that, I was curious about your motivation to explore those languages if you didn't expect them to be good.

Based on your confusion, it seems like you weren't intending these to be read as separate goals. I'm still not sure why you'd explicitly call out "finding a good scripting language" after mentioning you wanted to explore Python and Ruby, but my initial question appears not to be relevant.

Your post could be read as though you have two completely separate goals:

1. Explore Python, Ruby etc.

2. Find a good scripting language.

What's wrong with "anything too enterprise"?

I used to deploy and support enterprise software, which I chose from a contingency point of view: More users, more important users, and thus a lesser chance of being "wrong" about the choice of software. I had some good experiences, some bad.

Then I tried non-enterprise software. I picked out some lightweight tools and platforms and swore I'd drive them into the ground and get to the same goals, just to see what I could do without the enterprise overhead components. This experience practically changed my life--lightweight has been _the_ way to go for me ever since, whether by hook or by crook.

You might consider Elixir for scripting / systems language as well. LiveView is lightweight but allows amazingly quick Web-dev. Nim incorporates some Pascal concepts too. There's also a nice package to write native functions for Elixir in Nim [1].

1: https://github.com/wltsmrz/nimler