Python Introduction
Updated Aug 5, 2020 View by 1.6 K
In this article we learn about one of the most demanded programming langugage called Python and Python Introduction. Python is an interpreted high-level object-oriented computer programming language best known for its simplest easy to use codes. Learn Python programming with our simplified Python programming tutorial and examples.
Python programming language was created by Guido Van Rossum.
Because of its simplicity in coding and powerful features, it works brilliantly for both beginner to experts. In this series of Python programming tutorial, we will cover from basics to advanced concepts of Python in the simplest way possible.
First, off Python usually requires some setup by downloading the Python IDLE. The Python IDLE is basically a text editor that lets you execute Python code. If you want to use Python as a server-side language, you certainly can. Python can output HTML just like other languages can, but Python is more commonly used as a module rather than intertwined like some PHP or ColdFusion. As for right now, I recommend you download the IDLE to help you debug your code while we learn the fundamentals offline. One really quick note, we are using python 3.2. Before we go to an example, please understand that Python is space sensitive. This means you must have 4 spaces for each indentation every single time.
Python Introduction: Features
There are many features of Python programming making it more popular among developers with every passing day.
- Easy to learn, read and interpret
As you follow along with our tutorials, you will realize the simplicity in structure and easily defined syntax of Python programming which makes it super easy to learn, even for beginners. Python is like simple English with some predefined super easy instructions. - Simplicity in coding
Simplicity is what isolates python programming from other programming languages like C, C++, Java and others. Python is best for beginners as its simple and elegant syntax is easy to get along yet being so much powerful at the same time. - Free and Open Source: Thus easy to maintain
Python is constantly improved by the community of developers working every day to make it efficient and better. The best part of Python is that it is absolutely free for distributing copies, reading and editing source codes. It is free for both domestic and commercial use.
- Broad range of standard libraries
There is a huge number of standard Python libraries available for free. Thus, it makes it super easy to solve even complicated task using these libraries because almost everything is predefined and coded in these libraries. It is the availability of these libraries that have made Python one of the most popular programming language.
- Portable and Extensible
Portable means, Python programs, and applications can be used on multiple platforms without any changes. With the same interface, it can work perfectly fine in cross platforms.Also, we can integrate and add modules to python interpreter for making our tools more efficient. - Embeddable and Scalable
To increase the capabilities and scope of the program we can embed Python code with C/C++ programs.Python is also scalable in a sense that, it has better structure and support for large programs instead of just scripting in a shell. - Interpreted
This is also one of the key features of Python programming.When we run a program, the compiler loads the program from the memory heap, compiles it and starts running it. On the contrary, an interpreter runs Python program directly from source code. We don’t need to worry about compiling and other lower level tasks which make it super easy for a programmer.
Application of Python
Before knowing about Python’s application, one must know the big companies and applications that use Python programming languages.
To name a few are:
Besides these tech giants, millions of applications are built on a regular basis using Python because of its astounding simplicity in coding and many other core features.
Here is the list of software built in Python.
What is Python used for in the real world?
Well, as ironic as it sounds but the question is what is that Python is not used for in modern days. It has become favorite scripting language for programmers because of humongous libraries, package index, and community supports.
Here are the sectors in real world where Python is used dominantly and is being used more and more with every passing day.
- Web/Internet Development
- GUI Application
- Scientific and Numeric Computing
- Data Analysis
- Software Development
- Education
- Business Applications
Python Programming: Text Editors/Interpreters
With the installation of Python, IDLE comes as default and free which is amazing in its own ways. But, if you are working on complex projects, there are many other text editors and interpreters available which make coding in Python even easier.
Here are some of the popular IDEs for Python:
- PyCharm by Jetbrains – Download
- PyDev with Eclipse – Download
- Spyder Python – Download
- Komodo IDE – Download
- Wing IDE – Download
Python Programming: My First Program
Now that you know how to install Python, let’s write a simple program to demonstrate how simple it is to code in Python and have a glimpse of programming in Python.
## To print Hello World
print ("Hello World")
## To print sum of two numbers
a=1
b=2
print(a+b)
Output
Hello World 3
Explanation of the program
The first line is:
## To print Hello World
Anything followed by ## is taken as a comment in python. ## is used for single line comments.
The second line is:
print ("Hello World")
This is the simplicity of python, writing code as if we are writing plain English. This will print Hello World in output console.
The third part is:
a=1 b=2 print(a+b)
Here, first values are assigned to a and b and then their sum is printed. We don’t need to declare variables, instead, we can directly assign a value to them.
