By the way, I should point out that these remarks also apply to the geany direction thread. I also should point out this doesn't necessarily mean I'm opposed to vala, I'm just expressing concerns.
From this thread, it sounds like vala binds pretty well to C++ like python does, but also doesn't add bloat while simplifying the code. I don't think I've noticed python doing much to simplify gtk-centric code though, so would vala do better? If changing to vala is like changing to python, I'd be more inclined against it, although it would be good exerience to gain.
Thanks for all the replies :-)
Steve