The question that comes to mind is, what is Python? Python is a programming language that has experienced great development and spread rapidly in recent years. Python also stands out as a highly interpretable, object-oriented, and high-level programming language.
Python is one of the most preferred and easy to learn and very useful programming languages in the software industry. People generally use Python for Programming, Web Development and software creation. Due to its easiest syntax, it is recommended for beginners who are new to software engineering. Its demand is increasing very quickly due to its wide use cases in Modern Technological fields such as Data Science, Machine Learning and Automation Tasks. It has been among the best Programming languages for many years.
What is Python?
Python was designed in the late 1980s as an alternative to the ABC programming language. Python 2.0 was first released in 2000. Python 3.0, released in 2008, is not fully compatible with the previous version of the language, and code written in Python 2.x must be modified to run in Python 3.x. Official development of Python 2 officially ended on January 1, 2020, following the release of the Python 2.7.x series of versions, the final version of the language. Following the end of support for Python 2.x, development of Python 3.7.x and later versions of the language continues.
Development began in Amsterdam in 1990 by Guido van Rossum. Contrary to popular belief, it was not named after a snake, but after the Monty Python’s Flying Circus show by a six-person British comedy group called Monty Python, which Guido van Rossum loved very much. It is currently maintained by the efforts of volunteers gathered around the Python Software Foundation. Python reached version 1.0 in January 1994. Version 2.0 was released on October 16, 2000. As of December 3, 2008, the 3.x series began to be released; however, the 3.x series is not compatible with the 2.x series.
Python Syntax
Syntax in a programming language is a standard way of expressing values or statements which every programming language follows.
To print a statement- print(“Hello World”)
Output: Hello World
A basic Python program to print a statement:
# code
print("No Engineer")Output:
No Engineer
Features of Python
Python has plenty of features that make it the most demanding and popular. Let’s read about a few of the best features that Python has:
- Easy to read and understand
- Interpreted language
- Object-oriented programming language
- Free and open-source
- Versatile and Extensible
- Multi-platform
- Hundreds of libraries and frameworks
- Flexible, supports GUI
- Dynamically typed
- Huge and active community
These also state the reasons why you should choose Python to learn as a beginner, or also to use it for development purposes as a developer, and a lot more.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Python
Every programming language comes with benefits and limitations as well. These benefits and limitations can be treated as advantages and disadvantages. Python also has a few disadvantages over many advantages. Let’s discuss each here:
Advantages of Python:
- Easy to learn, read, and understand
- Versatile and open-source
- Improves productivity
- Supports libraries
- Huge library
- Strong community
- Interpreted language
Disadvantages of Python:
- Restrictions in design
- Memory inefficient
- Weak mobile computing
- Runtime errors
- Slow execution speed
Uses and Applications of Python
Python being so popular and so technologically advanced has multiple use cases and has real-life applications. Some of the most common Python applications which are very common are discussed below.
1. Web Development
Developers prefer Python for web Development, due to its easy and feature-rich framework. They can create Dynamic websites with the best user experience using Python frameworks. Some of the frameworks are -Django, for Backend development and Flask, for Frontend development. Most internet companies, today are using Python framework as their core technology, because this is not only easy to implement but is highly scalable and efficient. Web development is one of the top Applications of Python, which is widely used across the industry to create highly efficient websites.
2. Data Science
Data scientists can build powerful AI models using Python snippets. Due to its easily understandable feature, it allows developers to write complex algorithms. Data Science is used to create models and neural networks which can learn like human brains but are much faster than a single brain. It is used to extract patterns from past data and help organizations take their decisions. Also, companies use this field to make their future investments.
3. Web Scrapping and Automation
You can also automate your tasks using Python with libraries like BeautifulSoup, pandas, matplotlib, etc. for scraping and web automation. Businesses use AI bots as customer support to cater to the needs of the customers, it not only saves their money but also proved to be providing a better customer experience. Web scrapping helps the business in analyzing their data and other competitors’ data to increase their share in the market. It will help the organizations, make their data organize and scale business by finding patterns from the scrapped data.
4. CAD
You can also use Python to work on CAD (computer-aided designs) designs, to create 2D and 3D models digitally. There is dedicated CAD software available in the market, but you can also develop CAD applications using Python also. You can develop a Python-based CAD application according to your customizability and complexity, depending on your project. Using Python for CAD development allows easy deployment and integration across cross-platforms.
5. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
Using libraries like Pandas, and TensorFlow, experts can work on data analysis and machine learning applications for statistical analysis, data manipulation, etc. Python is one of the most used Programming languages in this field. It is worth saying that Python is the language of AI and ML. Python has contributed a lot to this field with its huge collection of libraries and large community support. Also, the field of Artificial intelligence and Machine learning is exponentially evolving, hence the use of Python is also going to increase a lot.
6. Game Development
Python can also be used by developers to build games using Pygame to develop 2D and 3D games. Some of the popular games built using Python are Pirates of the Caribbean, Battlefield 2, etc. Python has a library named Pygame, which is used to build interesting games. Since the gaming industry is gaining a lot market in recent years the use of these kinds of development has increased a lot in recent past. Also, it is very easy to build games using this library, you can also try to build some basic games.
