You must be from a hacker school. C has pointers.
>It might have heap allocation, Python has numpy.
Python has heap allocation. Every freaking programming language has heap allocation.
It's just in python you don't have to know when it happens and when it doesn't happen. It's hidden from you. You can guess when it happens but you have to be senior enough to know what it means.
When you need to worry about heap allocation, python is the language to NOT use. If you're a python developer, you'll never hit this problem.
>The language isn't relevant.
It is relevant. It's clear to me you don't even know what a heap allocation is and when it occurs. This concept is complex enough that you need a bit of intuition to know it. Glancing at the wikipedia won't provide you with the needed insight. If you did C++ you'd know it and you would also know how to perform this optimization in python.
In fact in fintech and gaming, they don't hire python programmers to do C++ work for a specific reason. It's 10x harder to program C++. Language MATTERS.
>Data structures, engineering mindset, pragmatism, intuition, maths reasoning, abstract thinking, ...
pfft. you think this type of thinking exists only for a select few? Let me put it to you this way. Most people in the world of normal intelligence can learn calculus. If you can learn calculus then you have the capacity to learn all of the above. Which is basically most people on earth.
>If I find a Python dev without this skillset at a high level they're not being put in a senior position because they'll add technical debt, cost and risk without even knowing it. They're a liability.
Yeah give them 1-2 years. They will get those abilities if they want it.
>If you think you can promote anyone to senior or principal without the above, you're a liability too. Good job.
You can't promote anyone. At that level it's largely political. How well can you lead, how well can you direct, how much other people respect you. It's also how a company defines the word principal. The people in these roles are not always the best in terms of technical ability.
The promotion is at the purview of the manager and he doesn't choose such a promotion based off of technical ability. If he did then a standardized test would be the most efficient way to measure technical ability.
It might have heap allocation, Python has numpy.
Rust might ...
Even so, while there _may_ be more technical scope in some languages, or more immediate surface area, this should be true:
A senior developer primarily in language Y should be technically capable enough to be senior in language Z with some degree of work.
The language isn't relevant. Data structures, engineering mindset, pragmatism, intuition, maths reasoning, abstract thinking, ...
These are things that make a senior developer.
If I find a Python dev without this skillset at a high level they're not being put in a senior position because they'll add technical debt, cost and risk without even knowing it. They're a liability.
Your "senior" Python developers don't sound senior to me.
If you think you can promote anyone to senior or principal without the above, you're a liability too. Good job.