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Am I the only person who finds "nim is python-y" an odd description? I often think that even "perl with off-side rule" would make more sense, given the variety of ways you can express many concepts in nim(TWMTOWTDI) and number of sigils.

I get that the stdlib is clearly inspired by python¹, and that using a reST-ish subset for documentation is Python-y. Beyond that surface scratch the comparison just falls apart, and often seems to end up as a pointless sticking point when introducing co-workers to nim. You can't even ignore the idea, as the moment they crack the awesome Nim in Action book or the official docs they're immediately shown it.

1. down to being able to just guess module names in a few circumstances.

2 comments

Python inspired syntax and standard library; Pascal/Ada inspired typing, with e.g. numeric ranges.

But nothing at all about it is perlish that I can think of.

> nothing at all about it is perlish that I can think of

Yeah, I could probably have picked a better example or more clearly expressed my thoughts. I was attempting to make a point about concepts such as the uniform function call syntax feeling like a perl-style TWMTOWTDI feature to me.

[The crux was supposed to be about how quickly just seeing the Python comparison in the docs ends up in a rabbit hole discussion. I didn't help with my own poor comparison.]

As a big fan of Nim, totally agree. I think the best description of Nim is a Pascal/Oberon/Modula language, with Lisp inspiration, and a Pythonic indentation/standard library. I think the Python influence is overstated because Python is such a popular language.