Technically, Python is defined as a general-purpose programming language. Developed by Guido Van Rossum, it is object-oriented. The word Python is derived from Guido’s favorite television show Monty Python’s Flying Circus. One needs not to worry if he or she is new to this code programming or has studied other languages apart from this.
It is easy to Learn Python as it requires syntax that emphasizes readability. Therefore, many developers can read and translate Python code quite easily as compared to other programming languages. Thus, the importance of Python has high credibility and encourages every programmer to go for it.
Importance of Python
Python sustains the use of packages and modules. It means that once you develop a package or a module, it can be used in various projects to export and import modules. The favorable advantage of Python is its standard libraries and interpreters. Both are available for free. It is a significant option for developers.
Python developers are called Pythonists. Thus, you can use Python for Web Development, Game Development, Data analysis, and scraping data from the web. Why Python? It is flexible and versatile, highly popular in the machine learning world, the ultimate library package, and beginner-friendly.
If you know the significance of anything, you can easily understand the value of opting for it. While studying the Python language, you may come across the question- why Python language is called Python? While naming the program, Guido Van Rossum came up with the thought of bringing a name that is unique, short, and slightly mysterious. Thus, he refined the title of his favorite television show and named the language Python.
There is no denying in saying that the most important thing in a programming language is the name. A language needs a good name to succeed and gain popularity. Whether the name is one word or two words, it is essential to pick the suitable one. This is because programmers or beginners looking forward to learning such a language need a quick recall to memorize the name of the language whenever they feel like discussing it with someone or searching for it online after hearing from somewhere.
Significant Understanding behind Python Language
If you have ever worked with Python programming and played an old snake game then, you might have got some idea why Python is called Python. It may sound strange, but if you look at the structure of the Python code, the pattern of assigning code features a Python appearance.
Another important thing you look at is Python programming indent or spacing which has its own value and is known as part of programs by the compiler. Though Python has many stories after its name, the reason for Guido Van Rossum also extends to illustrate code as eggs and spam, which are used as food and bar respectively in other programs.
History of Python
Guido Van Rossum conceived Python in the late 1980s at Centrum Wiskunde and Informatica (CWI) in the Netherlands as heir to the ABC language. It is capable of interfacing with the Amoeba operating system and exception handling. Its execution began in December 1989.
Van Rossum was Python’s lead developer till 12 July 2018. After this, he took a permanent vacation from his responsibilities as Python’s Benevolent Dictator for Life. This is the title that the Python community bestowed upon him that reflects his long-term dedication and commitment to the projects as chief decision-maker. Further, the active Python core developers elected Nick Coghlan, Carol Willing, Van Rossum, Barry Warsaw, and Brett Cannon to a five-member Steering Council to direct the project.
As Python 2.0 was released on 16 October 2000, there are many new features such as support for Unicode and a cycle-detecting garbage collector. On 3 December 2008, Python 3.0 was released with a major revision of the language, which was not considered as a complete backward-compatible. Its features were backported to version series Python 2.6x and 2.7x.
Features of Python Language
Known as a multi-paradigm programming language, the structured programming and object-oriented programming of Python are fully supported. Its exquisite features support aspect-oriented programming and functional programming. There are many other paradigms, which are supported through an extension such as logic programming and design by contract.
Python utilizes dynamic typing and a combination of reference counting. It has a dynamic name resolution that supports variable names and methods during program implementation. Along with the features, the language has a core philosophy that is summarized according to the document The Zen of Python, from which these aphorisms are taken-
- Explicit is better than implicit
- The complex is better than the complicated
- Beautiful is better than ugly
- Simple is better than complex
- Readability counts
Python is designed to be highly extensible. This exclusive and compact modularity has made Python popular by means of adding programmable interfaces to existing applications. Well, Python strives for easier and less structured syntax while providing developers a choice in the coding strategy. The imperative goal of Python developers is to avoid premature optimization and not allow patches to non-critical parts of the CPython reference execution that offer a high cost of clarity for the increase in the speed.
Moreover, the language has countless applications, which are most common to use and have importance as well. Some of them are-
- Software Development
- Internet/ Web Development
- GUI-based Desktop Applications such as graphic design, image processing, and games.
- Computational and Scientific Application
- Education
- Data Analysis
- Language Development and Operating System
- Business
- Machine Learning and AI
- Web Scraping
- Scripting
- Robotics
So, how amazing is it that the language that innovated to bring simplicity to coding is now used worldwide including by NASA and Google? Nowadays, Python is utilized for everything from AI algorithms to a robot. Meanwhile, if you have decided to learn Python, then the online Python tutorial is all you need. It includes practical knowledge without hindering your already going schedule.
Thus, Python is important and is not difficult when starting to start learning. The language is described in itself because the name has taken impressive ways to get introduced.