Being one of the most powerful, and versatile programming languages, Python is easy to learn and is widely used among developers. Its popularity and demand is increasing ever since its launch and still continuing to grow. Demand for Python developers has increased by 41% in the last 5 years. Out of 25 million developers in the world, 8.2 million are Python developers. It is a must-have skill for programmers, data scientists, and developers across many industries. Python, being so popular and highly demanding is ranked as the top programming language, according to several reports.
Having these benefits, it’s very important for you as a beginner to understand Python and make a future in it. That’s why we came up with this article to discuss the history of Python, its features, advantages and disadvantages, and applications.
What is Python?
Python is a high-level, general-purpose, and interpreted programming language used in various sectors including machine learning, artificial intelligence, data analysis, web development, and many more. Python is known for its ease of use, powerful standard library, and dynamic semantics. It also has a large community of developers who keep on contributing towards its growth. The major focus behind creating it is making it easier for developers to read and understand, also reducing the lines of code.
History of Python
Python, first created in 1980s by the Guido van Rossum, is one of the most popular programming languages. During his research at the National Research Institute for Mathematics and Computer Science in the Netherlands, he created Python – a super easy programming language in terms of reading and usage. The first ever version was released in the year 1991 which had only a few built-in data types and basic functionality.
Later, when it gained popularity among scientists for numerical computations and data analysis, in 1994, Python 1.0 was released with extra features like map, lambda, and filter functions. Followed by which adding new functionalities and bringing newer versions of Python came into fashion.
- Python 1.5 released in 1997
- Python 2.0 released in 2000
- Python 3.0 in 2008 brought newer functionalities
The latest version of Python, Python 3.10 was released in 2021.
Newer functionalities being added to Python makes it more beneficial for developers and improved its performance. In recent years, Python has gained a lot of popularity and is a highly demanding programming language. It has spread its demand in various fields which includes machine learning, artificial intelligence, data analysis, web development, and many more giving you a high-paying job.
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:
Python3
# code print("Hello World") |
Must Read: Python – Output using print() Function
If you’re unsure of which platform to choose for practicing Python, here are some of the Top 10 Python IDEs in 2023 which have the best IDEs you can use as a beginner.
Features of Python
Python has plenty of features that make it the most demanding and more 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
Applications of Python
Python is a highly-demanding and popular programming language used in various disciplines. Let’s talk about a few of the major areas where Python is in great demand.
- Developers can work on web development and create amazing and feature-rich websites using Python and its frameworks like Django. Python comes with inbuilt libraries and tools which makes the process of developing web applications easier.
- Data scientists can build powerful AI models using Python snippets. Due to its easily understandable feature, it allows developers to write complex algorithms.
- You can also automate your tasks using Python with libraries like BeautifulSoup, pandas, matplotlib, etc. for scraping and web automation.
- You can also use Python to work on CAD (computer-aided designs) designs, to create 2D and 3D models digitally.
- Using libraries like Pandas, and TensorFlow, experts can work on data analysis and machine learning applications for statistical analysis, data manipulation, etc.
- 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.
Refer: Top 10 Python Applications in Real World
Want to know the salary of a Python developer?
– The average salary of a Python developer in India is 6 LPA
Conclusion
Python has a lot of reasons which make it a more popular and highly demanding programming language. We have discussed all the pointers that any beginner who’s starting to learn Python should focus on. If you want to become a Python developer, learn Python in-depth and try to gain more advanced concepts. Also, developers can use Python in developing feature-rich applications. Gain a deep knowledge of Python and be a successful Python developer.
FAQs
Q1. What is Python and why it is used?
Answer:
Python is a programming language often used in various fields like – building websites and software, automating tasks, and conducting data analysis. Python is a general-purpose language, meaning it can be used to create a variety of different programs and isn’t specialized for any specific problems.
Q2. What is Python for example?
Answer:
Python is a very popular general-purpose interpreted, interactive, object-oriented, and high-level programming language. Python is a dynamically-typed and garbage-collected programming language. It was created by Guido van Rossum during 1985- 1990.
Q3. What are the basics of Python?
Answer:
Python is full of features that make it the perfect choice for beginners to choose. It allows you to write fewer lines of code as compared to the other programming languages. It runs on an interpreter system and is a general-purpose programming language.
