Scratching the Surface of Python

An Overview of Python for Beginners

Python is an unambiguous, easy–to–read, general–purpose high–level programming language which considers paradigms of structured, procedural, and object–oriented programming. In December 1989, Guido van Rossum released Python 0.9.0 to the alt.sources newsgroup, which was later made available on the gmane.org mailing list. It was designed with an emphasis on code readability, and its syntax allows programmers to express concepts in fewer lines of code than possible in languages such as C++ or Java. In 2004, Van Rossum was awarded the A.M. Turing Award “for making the Python programming language accessible to hundreds of thousands of people who otherwise would have had difficulty approaching computer science.”

In the Python language, there is no explicit type declaration of variables. Types are inferred from the values assigned to variables, and from the context in which variables are used. This avoids the need for tedious and error–prone type–casting which is common in languages like C. Python is also dynamically typed, meaning that variables can be assigned without declaring their type. This can be very useful, as it allows for greater flexibility in program design. Python is considered to be a very readable language. This is because, unlike most other programming languages, it uses significant white–space to delimit code blocks, and it employs a consistent indentation style. This can make Python code much easier to read and understand than code written in other languages.

Python supports multiple programming paradigms, including object–oriented, imperative, and functional programming styles. It also features a fully dynamic type system and automatic memory management, making it ideal for rapid prototyping and development of complex applications. Python is widely used in a variety of settings, including web development, scientific computing, data analysis, artificial intelligence, and education.

Also Read: Top 4 Python Math Library Functions to Solve Math Problems Quickly

Python is a popular scripting language for many desktop applications, such as Blender, GIMP, and Inkscape. It is also used in many large–scale web applications, such as Google App Engine and Django. Python is an open source language, with a large and active community of users and developers. The Python language is released under a free software license, and contributions to the Python language and standard library are always welcome. Python code is usually stored in text files with a .py extension.

To run a Python program, simply type the python command, followed by the path to the script you wish to run.

For example, to run a script called hello.py, you would type: $ python hello.py

If the script is in the current working directory, you can also type: $ python ./hello.py

You can also run Python code interactively from the command line.

This can be useful for quick experimentation and testing. To do this, simply type the python command, followed by the –i option: $ python -i hello.py

This will enter an interactive Python session where you can type Python code and have it executed immediately. To exit the interactive session, simply type the exit() command.

Python scripts can also be executed from within a graphical user interface (GUI). In order to do this, you will need to install a Python interpreter and a GUI toolkit. Popular choices for the Python interpreter include PyPy and CPython. For the GUI toolkit, you have many choices, including PyQt, PySide, wxPython, and Tkinter. Once you have installed these components, you can use a Python script to create a GUI application. Python is a very powerful language, but it is also easy to learn. In this article, we have only scratched the surface of what you can do with Python.