real programming like C++
AFAICS languages like Python are both 'real' programming languages and scripting languages, since you can solve virtually any computational problem using them;
With any moderately complex problem domain you're trying to model, the development and usage bottleneck tends to be your own limited understanding of the domain rather than the unoptimized nature of your algorithm. IME switching to a 'low-level' language like C++ or C allows you to gain some speed at the cost of spending additional time negotiating the primitiveness of the language.
Consequently a common pattern has developed of developing in a scripting/dynamic language and only translating the points which are both simple and brute-force into a more primitive language (often C); this minimizes the cost of readjusting abstractions (inexpensive in scripting languages, very expensive and error-prone in low-level languages), which as I said, is the thing you are likely to spend most time doing.
The fact that PyTables (
http://www.pytables.org), a very-high-performance system for storing and querying huge amounts of structured data, is implemented mostly in Python, illustrates this.
You only need to get into C/C++ if you really truly need exacting performance. Most people don't (especially because performance tuning tends to make your code more fragile and give you disincentives to revise it.)
Be aware though that C++ is very much an overinflated language design -- it's complexity is far beyond the reasonable.
If you want OO+high performance, Vala may be a better bet.
Programming, like art, is appealing in that you are basically the god of your own little domain. Given enough skill and experience, the only limitation to what you create is your imagination.
YES. That is EXACTLY why I like programming so much.
Ruby definitely looks simpler and a bit more intuitive (like maybe you really could be happy writing in it), but Python looks like it might not be too much harder.
I can only say: I am really happy writing in Python. Like, really really happy. The phrase 'fits your brain' is associated with it for a good reason. Almost all of the time in a coding session for me is spent problem-solving, rather than negotiating the language.
This set of images might be interesting:
http://flickr.com/photos/nicksieger/281055485/http://flickr.com/photos/nicksieger/281055530/http://flickr.com/photos/nicksieger/280662707/http://flickr.com/photos/nicksieger/280661836/-- from
http://www.mail-archive.com/numpy-discussion@lists.sourceforge.net/msg03837.html(dependency graphs for the grammars of Python, C, Java, and Ruby. Java is hilariously bad.)