Well, we're verging on WAY off topic, but I have to respond to a few of those.
PCSpectra wrote:As I understand it Python has a better OO model
I used to think that, but honestly, I'm starting to think that "the best OO model" is kind of a pipe dream. PHP's oo model is not as dynamic and doesn't have as many cool features as python, but I think it FITS its purpose extremely well. PHP was originally written as a way to do a little bit of pre-processing before outputting a WEB page. A very modest goal which (and I know I'm way oversimplifying) is still all it really does. Python was written as an all-purpose language. One of many many things people have used it for is to write web applications.
I think this is a fundamental reason why PHP is able to reach such a wide market. It is very easy to pick up, yet it is very powerful, and has just enough OO and advanced features to keep guys like me interested in it.
PCSpectra wrote:although just looking at some examples I dislike a lot of their syntax.
I hated it when I first learned it. It grows on you, trust me.
PCSpectra wrote:It doesn't appear to use {} braces for nesting. While not strictly bad practice what it does do is prevent my IDE from collapsing entire blocks of code to focus strictly on the problem at hand. Source code folding essentially, very handy feature.
You just need an editor that supports python. I use
Komodo Edit.
PCSpectra wrote:I also dislike the
'elif' what the hell is that?

Yea, I have no argument for that one. That drives me nuts
PCSpectra wrote:I look at the code and wonder if perhaps it uses whitespace as a way of "bracing" code implicitly through tabs, etc...similar to some Linux config files (Postifx?).
While some might argue that is bad practice...in one way I would see that as a blessing in disguise as it would certainly stop people from writing code the way they want too...
Bingo. That was the intention. It was written that way to make people write sexy code. Every python file looks the same. It's wonderful.
PCSpectra wrote:1. Long lines always buckle when I print
When you print?
PCSpectra wrote:I for one prefer consistency over anything else.
Like I said, you can look at any python code, written by anybody and they will look exactly the same.