Python

Python Overview

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Python is a general-purpose interpreted, interactive, object-oriented, scripting, and high-level programming language. Python is highly readable and mostly uses English keywords and syntactical constructions other than languages.

Python Developed by Guido van Rossum during 1985- 1990. Python source code is also available in the GNU GPL (General Public License).

Why Python?

  • Python is Interpreted: Python did not require compilation. It’s processed by an interpreter at runtime. This is similar to PHP and PERL.
  • Python is Interactive: Python is interactive because you can write a python program on Python prompt and interact with an interpreter.
  • Python is Object-Oriented: Python supports Object-Oriented features for programming that encapsulates code within objects.
  • Python is a Startup Language for Beginner’s: Python supports a wide range of applications from Simple text to WWW browsers to games. Its keyword is the most common words of English to understand a program.

Python Features

Python is the most widely used language for application development. Here are the most important features that are the reason it’s most preferred:

  • Easy-to-learn: Python has a simple structure, keywords of the English language, and a clearly defined syntax. This allows the beginner level programmer to easily pick up.
  • Easy-to-read: Python code is more clear and indentation based formatting so you can easily read it.
  • Easy-to-maintain: Python’s source code is easy-to-maintain.
  • A broad standard library: Python’s library is cross-platform compatible and very portable.
  • Interactive Mode: Python is interactive because you can write a python program on Python prompt and interact with the interpreter. It allows testing and debugging of code on the snippet.
  • Extendable: Python is extendable to add low-level modules to the interpreter. By these modules enable programmers to add to or customize their tools to be more efficient.
  • Portable: Python is portable because it runs on a variety of hardware platforms and provides the same interface for all platforms.
  • Scalable: Python provides a better structure and support for programs for application than shell scripting.
  • Databases: Python provides interfaces to support all major databases use for commercial applications.
  • GUI Programming: Python supports GUI applications that can be developed and ported to so many system calls, libraries and windows systems, Macintosh, Windows MFC, etc.

Python Characteristics

These are the most important characteristics of Python Programming Language:

  • Python supports structured and functional programming methods and also supports some features of OOP.
  • Python can be used as a scripting language or can be compiled to byte-code for developing large applications.
  • Python supports dynamic type checking and also provides very high-level dynamic data types.
  • Python supports automatic garbage collection the same as Java.
  • Python can be easily integrated with C, C++, ActiveX, CORBA, COM, and Java.

Where to use Python?

Python is a very popular language to use in developing the application, used a scripting language and nowadays is the most popular language to use in Artificial intelligence and machine learning.

  • Web Development: Django, Bottle, Pyramid, Tornado, Flask, Web2py
  • GUI Development: tkInter, pyQt, PySide, Kivy, wxPython, PygObject
  • Software Development: Buildbot, Trac, Roundup
  • System Administration: Ansible, OpenStack, Salt
  • Scientific and Numeric: Pandas, IPython, SciPy

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