What is Python (Programming)?
Python is a general-purpose language. It has wide range of applications from Web development (like: Django and Bottle), scientific and mathematical computing (Orange, SymPy, NumPy) to desktop graphical user Interfaces (Pygame, Panda3D). The syntax of the language is clean and length of the code is relatively short. It’s fun to work in Python because it allows you to think about the problem rather than focusing on the syntax.
Why Python was created?
In late 1980s, Guido Van Rossum was working on the Amoeba distributed operating system group. He wanted to use an interpreted language like ABC (ABC has simple easy-to-understand syntax) that could access the Amoeba system calls. So, he decided to create a language that was extensible. This led to design of a new language which was later named Python.
Applications of Python
Web Applications
You can create scalable Web Apps using frameworks and CMS (Content Management System) that are built on Python. Some of the popular platforms for creating Web Apps are: Django, Flask, Pyramid, Plone, Django CMS. Sites like Mozilla, Reddit, Instagram and PBS are written in Python.
Scientific and Numeric Computing
There are numerous libraries available in Python for scientific and numeric computing. There are libraries like: SciPy and NumPy that are used in general purpose computing. And, there are specific libraries like: EarthPy for earth science, AstroPy for Astronomy and so on. Also, the language is heavily used in machine learning, data mining and deep learning.
Creating software Prototypes
Python is slow compared to compiled languages like C++ and Java. It might not be a good choice if resources are limited and efficiency is a must.
However, Python is a great language for creating prototypes. For example: You can use Pygame (library for creating games) to create your game’s prototype first. If you like the prototype, you can use language like C++ to create the actual game.
Good Language to Teach Programming
Python is used by many companies to teach programming to kids and newbies.
It is a good language with a lot of features and capabilities. Yet, it’s one of the easiest language to learn because of its simple easy-to-use syntax.
