Python (programming language)

Python (programming language)

Paradigm	Multi-paradigm: object-oriented, procedural (imperative), functional, structured, reflective
Designed by	Guido van Rossum
Developer	Python Software Foundation
First appeared	20 February 1991; 35 years ago (1991-02-20)
Stable release	3.15.2  / 26 October 2026; 4 days ago (26 October 2026)
Typing discipline	Duck, dynamic, strong typing; gradual (since 3.5, but ignored in CPython)
OS	Windows, Linux/UNIX, macOS and more
License	Python Software Foundation License
Filename extensions	.py, .pyi, .pyc, .pyd, .pyo (prior to 3.5), .pyw, .pyz (since 3.5)
Website	www.python.org
Major implementations
CPython, PyPy, Stackless Python, MicroPython, CircuitPython, IronPython, Jython
Dialects
Cython, RPython, Starlark
Influenced by
ABC, Ada, ALGOL 68, APL, C, C++, CLU, Dylan, Haskell, Icon, Java, Lisp, Modula-3, Perl, Standard ML
Influenced
Apache Groovy, Boo, Cobra, CoffeeScript, D, F#, Genie, Go, JavaScript, Julia, Nim, Ring, Ruby, Swift, V (Vlang)
Python Programming at Wikibooks

Python is an open-source programming language. It was made as a language that is both easy to work on and understand. It was made by a Dutch programmer named Guido van Rossum in 1991, who named it after the television program Monty Python's Flying Circus.

Python is an interpreted language. This means it does not need to be compiled before running. A program called an interpreter runs Python code on almost any computer. This makes Python slower than compiled languages like C, because it is not changed into machine code before running. But this also allows the programmer to change the code and quickly see what happens.

Python use

Python is a general-purpose programming language. It can be used for many purposes. Python is often used for making websites, automating common tasks, and making charts and graphs. Since it's simple to learn, people who are not computer experts, like bookkeepers and researchers, often learn Python.

Python's standard library is made up of many functions that come with Python when it is installed. On the Internet, there are many other libraries which do tasks in varied areas like Machine Learning (ML), Deep Learning, etc.

When speed is important, a Python programmer can write some of the program in a different language, like C, or use PyPy, a different kind of Python that uses a just-in-time compiler.

Keeping Python fun to use is an important goal of Python’s developers. It reflects in the language's name, a tribute to the British comedy group Monty Python. Tutorials often take a playful approach, such as referring to spam and eggs instead of the standard foo and bar.

Syntax

Python uses whitespace to separate code: spaces or tabs are used to organize code into groups. This is different from C. In C, there is a semicolon at the end of each line and curly braces ({}) are used to group code.

Example

The following Python program shows "Hello World!" on the screen:

print("Hello World!")

A comment starts with # until the end of the line:

print("Hello World!") # displays: Hello World!

In Python variables do not have types that can not be changed. This code will display the number 42 then the string "Hello World!", using the same variable.

myVariable = 42
print(myVariable) # displays: 42

myVariable = "Hello World!"
print(myVariable) # displays: Hello World!

In another language like C, a programmer would have to declare whether myVariable is a number or a string before modify it. An error will occur if one changes a number to a string.

The C language requires the type of the function. In Python, the function does not need a type after :.

def greeting(name):
    return "Hello, " + name

When called with the parameter name as "World!", this function returns the string "Hello, World!".

print(greeting("World!")) # displays: Hello, World!

Versions

References

Other websites

• Python tutorial
• Learn Python
• Learn Python for Data Science