Python – The new generation Language

INTRODUCTION:

Python is a widely-used, high-level programming language known for its simplicity, readability, and versatility. It is often used in scientific computing, data analysis, artificial intelligence, and web development, among other fields. Python’s popularity has been growing rapidly in recent years, making it one of the most in-demand programming languages in the job market.

In addition to its popularity in various industries, Python is also a popular language for beginners due to its easy-to-learn syntax and extensive library of modules. The Python community is also very active and supportive, with many resources available for learning and troubleshooting. Furthermore, Python’s open-source nature allows for a large number of third-party libraries and frameworks to be developed, making it a great tool for rapid application development.

Python designed by Guido van Rossum at CWI has become a widely used general-purpose, high-level programming language. Prerequisites: Knowledge of any programming language can be a plus. Reason for increasing popularity

1. Emphasis on code readability, shorter codes, ease of writing
2. Programmers can express logical concepts in fewer lines of code in comparison to languages such as C++ or Java.
3. Python supports multiple programming paradigms, like object-oriented, imperative and functional programming or procedural.
4. There exists inbuilt functions for almost all of the frequently used concepts.
5. Philosophy is “Simplicity is the best”.

LANGUAGE FEATURES

• Interpreted
  • There are no separate compilation and execution steps like C and C++.
  • Directly run the program from the source code.
  • Internally, Python converts the source code into an intermediate form called bytecodes which is then translated into native language of specific computer to run it.
  • No need to worry about linking and loading with libraries, etc.
• Platform Independent
  • Python programs can be developed and executed on multiple operating system platforms.
  • Python can be used on Linux, Windows, Macintosh, Solaris and many more.
• Free and Open Source; Redistributable
• High-level Language
  • In Python, no need to take care about low-level details such as managing the memory used by the program.
• Simple
  • Closer to English language;Easy to Learn
  • More emphasis on the solution to the problem rather than the syntax
• Embeddable
  • Python can be used within C/C++ program to give scripting capabilities for the program’s users.
• Robust:
  • Exceptional handling features
  • Memory management techniques in built
• Rich Library Support
  • The Python Standard Library is vary vast.
  • Known as the “batteries included” philosophy of Python ;It can help do various things involving regular expressions, documentation generation, unit testing, threading, databases, web browsers, CGI, email, XML, HTML, WAV files, cryptography, GUI and many more.
  • Besides the standard library, there are various other high-quality libraries such as the Python Imaging Library which is an amazingly simple image manipulation library.

Python vs JAVA

Python	Java
Dynamically Typed1.No need to declare anything. An assignment statement binds a name to an object, and the object can be of any type.2.No type casting required when using container objects	Statically Typed 1.All variable names (along with their types) must be explicitly declared. Attempting to assign an object of the wrong type to a variable name triggers a type exception.2.Type casting is required when using container objects.
Concise Express much in limited words	VerboseContains more words
Compact	Less Compact
Uses Indentation for structuring code	Uses braces for structuring code

The classical Hello World program illustrating the relative verbosity of a Java Program and Python Program Java Code

Java

public class HelloWorld
{
   public static void main (String[] args)
   {
      System.out.println("Hello, world!");
   }
}

Python Code

Python3

print("Hello, world!")

Similarity with Java

• Require some form of runtime on your system (JVM/Python runtime)
• Can probably be compiled to executables without the runtime (this is situational, none of them are designed to work this way)

LOOK and FEEL of the Python

GUI

Command Line interface

Softwares making use of Python

Python has been successfully embedded in a number of software products as a scripting language.

1. GNU Debugger uses Python as a pretty printer to show complex structures such as C++ containers.
2. Python has also been used in artificial intelligence
3. Python is often used for natural language processing tasks.

Current Applications of Python

1. A number of Linux distributions use installers written in Python example in Ubuntu we have the Ubiquity
2. Python has seen extensive use in the information security industry, including in exploit development.
3. Raspberry Pi– single board computer uses Python as its principal user-programming language.
4. Python is now being used Game Development areas also.

Pros:

1. Ease of use
2. Multi-paradigm Approach

Cons:

1. Slow speed of execution compared to C,C++
2. Absence from mobile computing and browsers
3. For the C,C++ programmers switching to python can be irritating as the language requires proper indentation of code. Certain variable names commonly used like sum are functions in python. So C, C++ programmers have to look out for these.

ADVANTAGES OR DISADVANTAGES:
Advantages of Python:

• Easy to learn and use: Python has a simple and intuitive syntax, making it easy for beginners to learn and use.
• Versatile: Python can be used for a wide range of tasks, including web development, scientific computing, data analysis, artificial intelligence, and more.
• Large community: Python has a large and active community, which means that there are many resources available for learning and troubleshooting.
• Extensive library: Python has an extensive library of modules that can be used for various tasks, such as web scraping, data visualization, and machine learning.
• Open-source: Python is open-source, which means that it is free to use and modify.

Disadvantages of Python:

• Performance: Python is known to be slower than other programming languages, such as C++ and Java, which can make it less suitable for certain types of performance-critical tasks.
• Memory management: Python’s memory management is not as efficient as other languages, which can make it less suitable for memory-intensive tasks.
• Dynamic typing: Python uses dynamic typing, which means that variables do not have to be declared with a specific data type. This can make it more difficult to catch certain types of errors during the development process.
• Not suitable for mobile development: Python is not a good choice for developing mobile applications

Industrial Importance Most of the companies are now looking for candidates who know about Python Programming. Those having the knowledge of python may have more chances of impressing the interviewing panel. So I would suggest that beginners should start learning python and excel in it. GeeksforGeeks is very soon going to introduce programming in Python too. Article By Mudit Maheshwari: A 3rd-year B.Tech IT student from VIT University, Vellore having a keen interest in coding, learning about new technology, and developing software. Besides being passionate about coding, he also loves playing guitar and singing. Currently staying in Chennai. You can reach him at mudit94@gmail.com. If you also wish to showcase your blog here,please see GBlog for guest blog writing on GeeksforGeeks.