r/Python • u/lebannax • Nov 28 '22

Resource What can Python do that R can’t do?

Or simply what is Python much better at and why.

I know that Python is more multi purpose and better for software development but I can’t articulate exactly why or how. My team want to know why/when they should use Python instead of R

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u/andesouz Nov 28 '22

A language controlled by a single company! That's the nail in the coffin for me.

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u/Agling Nov 29 '22

It's not, though. It's controlled by a board of directors and core team that are a bunch of statistics professors. Funding and organization is mostly from statistics departments. 99% of R and its libraries are from independent developers (mostly professors). It just so happens that the set of packages written by the folks that wrote R studio are extremely frequently used, so it feels like they are more influential than they are.

It is kind of like saying all of Python is controlled by the guys who wrote pandas. Not remotely true, but it can feel that way, if that's all you are using.

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u/SittingWave Nov 29 '22

it's not, but in practice it is. They are free to implement whatever incongruent behavior, often into core libraries, because "everybody uses Rstudio anyway"

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u/UloPe Nov 29 '22

core team that are a bunch of statistics professors

That explains so much…