For better or for worse, I am far more proficient in PHP than Python. However, when it comes down to syntax, I would much prefer to write in Python.
I love the simplicity of Python; I tend to make fewer mistakes with its eye-friendly syntax. Although, at this point, I am so familiar with PHP’s C-like syntax, that I can sometimes write 100+ lines of code without a single syntax error (and I don’t use your silly error-correcting IDEs, but vi with only basic syntax highlighting on the command line).
Anyways, I have been writing several hundred lines of PHP daily for the past week or so, and I just can’t get over how amazing PHP’s official documentation is over Python’s.
When I am trying to figure out how to do something new in Python, especially if it involves using libraries I am not familiar with already, I have to go through all kinds of hell googling around to find decent documentation on it. However, with PHP, just type in php.net/some_function or php.net/variables or whatever, and you not only get what you are looking for, but also a very smart list of similar functions / information as what you are viewing.
If I could go back and teach my 13yr old self how to code again, I would use Python because it is sane, scalable, and very efficient. But if I needed to assign my 13yr old self a project to complete, I would have him use PHP, because he could actually figure out how to do it.