WHY PHYTON OVER OTHER PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES?
In 1991, a new programming language called Python was invented. Many years later, having overtaken most of its competitors, the invention is already extensively used by tech companies around the globe.
While some languages are stagnating or in decline, Python’s popularity is going up in an increasing rate.
Moreover, the TIOBE programming community index shows now that Python holds the highest position since the start of the index in 2001.
People search for information about it on Google ever more often and they actually manage to find the facts that introduce benefits of Python over other languages.
So, what drives its success?
What is the Python programming language?
Python is one of the most popular and fastest-growing programming languages. Inherently, it is interpreted, high-level, general-purpose, and object-oriented scripting language, which means the following:
1. Interpreted - an interpreter processes the source file at runtime, it reads the lines of code one by one and performs what is said. Similarly to Perl and PHP, Python does not require that you compile your program before executing it. So, you do not have to invoke a compiler. Instead of running the compiler that helps turn source files into compiled class files, you simply run a .py file. Python byte code compilation is automatic and entirely implicit.
2. High-level - Python relies on easy-to-read structures that are later translated into a low-level language, the original code that is run on a computer’s central processing unit (CPU). A high-level language is intended to be used by a programmer and the written code is further interpreted into a low-level language. Like C++ or Java, before running, Python has to be processed. This enables Python’s portability — it can run on different kinds of computers with nearly no modifications.
3. General-purpose - Python can be used for nearly everything. It is applicable to almost every field for a variety of tasks. Be it the execution of such short-term tasks as software testing or long-term product development that involves roadmap planning, Python works well for them all, it is applicable all over the map. Its roles are unlimited. It is popular not only among software engineers, but also among specialists in other fields: mathematics, data analysis, science, accounting, and network engineering. Likewise, Python cliques with young people because it’s a very beginner-friendly scripting language.
4. Object-oriented - this programming paradigm gives an overall orientation towards scripting and powerful code structuring. This object-oriented approach allows thinking of problems in terms of classes and objects. Then, objects are composed in such a way to make up complex computer programs. Beside the object-oriented programming, Python also supports a procedural paradigm. With OOP being only one of the options, you can make Python programming more advanced by going for an object-oriented programming approach. Developers can create reusable patterns of code thus curtailing redundancy in development projects.
Where Python language is used
There is a vast variety of Python use cases across industries. Of course, the first thing that comes up when one thinks about the most common ways in which Python is employed is for building web, mobile, and desktop applications, as well as for testing them. But Python is a language that serves a multiplicity of purposes.
The areas of use Python is perfect for:
- Web app development.
- Data science
- Scripting
- Database programming
- Quick prototyping
Python is good for all forms of programming, which makes its user base grow rapidly. Cross-platform shell scripting, quick automation, simple web development, data analysis and visualization, AI and ML are some of the examples.
Often, specialists use Python to better perform a variety of tasks in different disciplines. Better performance, among others, may be achieved with the help of automation.
Finance, insurance, and marketing are the primary fields, in which people face the necessity to do tasks that are repetitive and boring: viewing, copying, renaming, and uploading files to a server, downloading websites or parsing data. Instead, a programmer can write a script in Python and automate it all.
Moreover, you should not necessarily be a software developer to use Python. The language allows facilitating data analysis and visualization.
It has a rich ecosystem comprising efficient libraries for data processing and therefore assisting data scientists in performing complex numeric computing operations.
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Advantages of the Python programming language
Not for nothing, the biggest companies in the world use Python. It is taken advantage of by Pixar to produce films, by Google to crawl pages, by Netflix to deliver content, and by Spotify to recommend songs.
The language is full of benefits and there are some good reasons to love it which includes:
1. Simplicity - Python’s straightforward and simple syntax is something that makes beginners want to learn this scripting language.
From some perspective, it may seem natural and pre-determined that Python can turn into the lingua franca of coding, manifesting all the rest of its opponents obsolete.
Its code is easy to comprehend, share, and maintain. There is no verbosity and the language is easy to learn.
A powerful toolbox. Inherently, Python programs are text files containing instructions for the interpreter and are written in a text editor or IDE. IDEs are full-featured and offer in-built tools like syntax checkers, debuggers and code browsers, text editors do not normally include IDE features but they can be customized.
Python also has a huge array of third-party packages, libraries, and frameworks that facilitate the development process.
These optimization capabilities thus make Python great for large-scale projects.
2. Development speed - We mean business speed here and the time-to-market metric. Python is a dynamic scripting language, so it isn’t intended for writing applications from scratch but it’s primarily intended for plugging together components. Components are designed to be reusable while the interfaces between components and scripts are well-defined.
It all accelerates the speed of software development with Python making the language highly concise and productive.
3. Flexibility - Although Python puts emphasis on code simplicity and readability rather than flexibility, the language still has it.
Python is usable across different projects. It allows developers to choose between object-oriented and procedural programming modes.
Python is flexible in data type, too. There are 5 of them: Number, String, List, Tuple, and Dictionary and every sub-data type corresponds to one of these root types.
As a result, the exploratory data analysis becomes easier to conduct due to Python’s flexibility.
4. Portability - Python is designed to be portable. Its programs are supported on any modern computer OS.
Owing to the high-level nature of the language, Python script is interpreted, so it can be written for further interpretation equally well on Linux, Windows, Mac OS, and UNIX without demanding for adjustments. Python programs also allow implementing portable GUIs.
4. A strong community - Python has a rapidly growing user base and actually is representative of what a strong community is.
There are thousands of contributors to Python’s powerful toolbox — Pythonists. There are already almost 200,000 custom-built software packages user-uploaded to an online repository. All it implies that the great supportive community is both the reason for and the consequence of the language’s being in demand.
Why Python is popular
Every language is designed in such a way analyzing the options showcase what is the reason for Python’s popularity. We encourage you to experience it yourself!
Are you now interested in starting your programming journey with Python Language? Well, books.zuri.team/python-for-beginners is a great place to start as they provide a step-by-step guide for beginners with little to no prior programming experience.
And if you also interested in other tech books, no worries because books.zuri.team also have you covered.
Conclusion
No programming language is an easy task to learn in the true sense of the word. But with determination, dedication, and the right mindset, one could set whatsoever dreams they have and achieve them.
So if this is your dream, I believe you can achieve it too.
