I ofter read that Python developers are of a higher quality than PHP developers.

So downvoters, how do you differentiate a good coder who chose the language based on features and reputation, over a poor coder, who chose it "because its easier than Perl"?

The point I am trying to make is that I think there are benefits to having a higher bar to entry.

If you hang out a lot on reddit, this particular site is written in python, so there might be a bias. Python is also often chosen for entry courses in CS, while PHP is probably more picked up by people who need to know it for work, so it is not necessarly well understood by many of its newly professional users.

My guess is that python is a more well rounded language, with a nicer syntax, which enforces indentation rules (that's a plus for teachers). PHP only shows its merits after a while, and through good practices.

However, looking at the charts over at langpop.com, I don't see how people would choose PHP over perl for its easiness, given the wide difference of popularity. They just don't sit in the same ballpark (except for maybe a few specific markets).

I usually look at their code, which is often a good indication of whether they are a good coder or not.

I think it is pretty safe to say that the average quality of PHP developers is lower than any other language except possibly javascript. There's a huge amount of very low knowledge people in both camps dragging the average down. Comparing python to ruby or perl things seem pretty similar.

I've been hiring both Python and PHP devs. It's absolutely night and day difference.

I don't think you need to worry... YET.

1. Python is simply a superior language.

2. There isn't currently a "WordPress" type of project that is bringing in droves of awful Python coders.

Will it eventually turn sour? If things continue with Python, I think so. But the language and community will do a good job keeping things slightly sane. I think the Python community understands the importance on both fronts. Sure, bad programmers are everywhere. But bad contributing programmers need to be kept at bay and out of our favorite GitHub repo's.

In my experiences as a solo founder needing junior-level programmers, Python is currently in the perfect sweet spot for adoption vs. quality. It's largely up to us in the community as to how long that will last.

Python tries to make it easier to avoid pitfalls. In contrast to PHP or Perl, Python believes that

> There should be one--and preferably only one--obvious way to do it.

Even something like significant whitespace forces everyone to format their code similarly.

That's not to say an incompetent programmer can't write horrible code in Python, just that Python tries to make it easier to do the right thing than the wrong thing.

Which makes it quite ironic pg dubbed this phenomenon the "Python Paradox".

http://paulgraham.com/pypar.html