::: {.Section1} O'Reilly's Jeremy Jones is reporting that Guido van Rossum, creator and lead developer of the Python programming language, is now working for Google\< ?xml:namespace prefix = o />.
My immediate reaction was "Not Heinemeir Hansson?" (The creator of Ruby on Rails, the much more buzzword-y framework for Web apps).
Seriously though, it's long been known that Google extensively uses Python (and other, proprietary domain-specific languages and tools) internally. This is one of those practices that signal Google's sophistication. In most organizations, you'll find that all work is done with the "production" language ? the language that is used to deliver value to the end-user. More sophisticated organizations recognize that exploration and exploitation often require different toolsets.
Personally, my favorite tool for exploration is Mathematica, which has a unique "notebook" interface that allows you to record your thoughts, embed pictures and media, and develop functionality. :::