Python Introduction

Introduction

Python is a popular high-level programming language designed for general-purpose programming. Guido van Rossum began working on Python in the late 1980s and first released it in 1991 as Python 0.9.0 as a successor to ABC programming language. 

Python was developed emphasizing code readability, allowing programmers to convey their ideas in fewer lines of code. It is mainly used for software development, web development, system scripting, and performing mathematical calculations.

Python's syntax is simple, straightforward, clear, and elegant and allows code to be written in fewer lines than other programming languages. It is an object-oriented programming language and interpreted language, making it ideal for the rapid development of applications. 

Python is an open-source programming language and is freely usable and distributable, even for commercial use. It contains an extensive standard library that is freely available in source or binary form.

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What is Python used for-

• AI and machine learning:  

Python is ideal for developing machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) applications. It is a powerful, versatile, and easy programming language and offers concise and readable code for coding complex algorithms.

• Data analytics:

Python is heavily used in data science to work with large amounts of information, manipulate data, and carry out repetitive tasks. 

• Data visualisation:

Python contains many libraries used to perform data visualisation, such as Pandas Visualisation and Plotly.

• Prototyping:

Python is interpreted, and it supports rapid application development. Hence it is extensively used to prototype applications before they are developed.

• Web/App development:

Python is an excellent choice for Web/App development. Many Python libraries and frameworks are freely available that support easy and efficient development.
 

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Advantages of using Python-

• Python is platform-independent. The same code can run on different platforms like Linux, Windows, Mac.
• The syntax of Python is straightforward, and it is similar to the English language.
• A program in Python can be written in much fewer lines than other programming languages. 
• Python is an interpreted language, meaning that code can be executed as soon as written. 
• Python supports many standard libraries, and one can find almost all the functions needed for their task.

Comparing Python syntax with other languages-

• Python was created with readability in mind, and it bears some resemblance to the English language, with a mathematical influence.
• Python uses new lines to indicate the completion of a command, in contrast to other programming languages, which mainly use parentheses or semicolons.
• Indentation and whitespace are used in Python to specify scopes, such as the scope of loops, classes, and functions. Curly brackets are commonly used in other computer languages for this reason.

Installing Python-

Before we write our first Python program, we need to install a Python interpreter to run our program. 

There are various online Python interpreters available that can interpret python programs without installing anything on our system.

For installing a Python interpreter, perform the following steps:

Windows/Mac

• Visit the download page on the official website of Python link.
• There will be a list of all Python versions that are currently available. Select the required version of Python
• Now,  among the list of all the available installers with different operating system requirements, select the one that matches your operating system. 
• Now a Python installer will be downloaded. Run the installer and install Python. 

Linux

• Visit the official website of Python and download the required version of Python. A .tar.xz archive file will be downloaded, which contains the source code of Python.
• Install the development packages required to build Python.

$ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt install build-essential zlib1g-dev \
libncurses5-dev libgdbm-dev libnss3-dev \
libssl-dev libreadline-dev libffi-dev curl

• Now extract the tarball using the tar command on terminal

$ tar -xf Python-3.?.?.tar.xz

• Navigate to the configure script and execute the following command on terminal

$ cd Python-3.*
./configure

• Execute this command if a version of Python is already installed and you want to install the new version alongside it. 

$ sudo make altinstall

• If you don’t already have Python installed, use the following command to install Python

$ sudo make install

Writing our first Python program-

# program starts
age = input("Enter your age: ")
print("Your age is ",age)
#program ends

• Line 1: This line is a comment. Comments start with a # in Python. The interpreter ignores this line and serves as documentation for our code.
• Line 2: Firstly, the string within the parentheses is printed, and then the variable age is assigned to the value entered by the user. 
• Line 3: The print function prints the string in the argument on the console. A newline is also added after the message is printed. 
• Line 4: This line is also a comment and is ignored by the interpreter. 

You can also read about the Multilevel Inheritance in Python.

FAQs

1. Why is it called Python?
   Guido van Rossum while developing Python, was also reading scripts from a BBC comedy series “Monty Python’s Flying Circus.”. So he named the language Python.

2. How many people are using Python?
Python is open-source and free to download and use, even for commercial purposes. Hence the user base of Python is vast. It is tough to estimate the exact count, but probably millions of active users are there. 

3. Is Python suitable for beginners?
Yes. Even though it is common for students to start with languages such as C++, C, or Java, it is beneficial to use Python as their beginning language. The simple and consistent syntax and extensive standard library allow students to concentrate on other essential programming skills such as problem decomposition and data type design. 

Key Takeaways

Congratulations on making it this far.

In this blog, we got introduced to the basics of the Python programming language.  

We understood how to install a Python interpreter on different operating systems. 

We also learned about the different fields in which it is used and its advantages, and we also wrote our first Python program. Also, learn about more related concepts like Basics of C++ or Basics Of Java.

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