Comment by mumblemumble

I wouldn't conflate Java and Python in the boilerplate camp. Python can be very boilerplate-y, but it tends to only happen in the hands of Java developers.

That said, even clean, idiomatic Python isn't as terse as sh. It also isn't as terse as perl. Many would argue that's a good thing. The optimum point for readability isn't found at either of the extremes. Not entirely unlike how the most readable way of writing English is neither shorthand nor blackletter.