Scala/Lift vs Python/Django

[Burk Hufnagel]

Venkat,
In another thread, you said,

Venkat Subramaniam wrote:Kalyan, I do not see each of these languages compete with each other head-on. Instead I see developers picking from a subset of languages for different layers or purposes in an application

....

You would then pick languages from different set depending on the need you have in the application.

You can use any particular language to build an entire application. However, once you see the language sets based on their capabilities and key benefits, it is easier to see how you would select among languages.

I'm curious about a couple of things.
1) Could you comment on where you would use a language like Python/Jython and how you feel it compares to Scala?

2) I'm an experienced developer (C/C++, lots of Java and a little Groovy) and I'm starting on a project using Python and Django (web framework) and they seems pretty cool. Reminds me of how easy Groovy & Grails makes it to get something up quickly. I've heard Dick Wall talking about Scala and Lift and I wonder how they compare.

Thanks,
Burk

[Venkat Subramaniam]

Burk, I try my best not to get into language wars. Statements like one language is better than another or one framework is better than another often
are not helpful and also lead to people jumping on each other. Instead, I would suggest that you evaluate and prototype in each of them and
see what they have to offer. No two (web) frameworks are created equal. If a particular framework is better suited for a particular project, I use it
shamelessly. I have use more than one web framework over the past few years and I do not still have one particular arbitrary preference. The simple
answer is it depends on what I need for a particular project.

[Burk Hufnagel]

Venkat,
I appreciate your point of view - I don't see any value in language (or framework) wars either. As you stated, if a language or framework is better suited for a particular project then it makes sense to use it.What I was hoping for was to save myself some time by finding out from someone who's already done the work what sort of projects make sense for Scala/Lift versus Python/Django - actually it would be a good bit of time since I'm just now learning Python/Django and haven't touched Scala/Lift.
Burk