Python is a general-purpose interpreted, interactive, object-oriented, and high-level
programming language. It was created by Guido van Rossum during 1985- 1990.
Like Perl, Python source code is also available under the GNU General Public License
(GPL). This tutorial gives enough understanding on Python programming language.
Why to Learn Python?
Python is a high-level, interpreted, interactive and object-oriented scripting
language. Python is designed to be highly readable. It uses English keywords
frequently where as other languages use punctuation, and it has fewer syntactical
constructions than other languages.
Python is a MUST for students and working professionals to become a great
Software Engineer specially when they are working in Web Development Domain. I
will list down some of the key advantages of learning Python:
• Python is Interpreted − Python is processed at runtime by the
interpreter. You do not need to compile your program before executing
it. This is similar to PERL and PHP.
• Python is Interactive − You can actually sit at a Python prompt and
interact with the interpreter directly to write your programs.
• Python is Object-Oriented − Python supports Object-Oriented style or
technique of programming that encapsulates code within objects.
• Python is a Beginner's Language − Python is a great language for the
beginner-level programmers and supports the development of a wide
range of applications from simple text processing to WWW browsers
to games.
Characteristics of Python
Following are important characteristics of Python Programming −
• It supports functional and structured programming methods as well as
OOP.
• It can be used as a scripting language or can be compiled to byte-code
for building large applications.
• It provides very high-level dynamic data types and supports dynamic
type checking.
• It supports automatic garbage collection.
• It can be easily integrated with C, C++, COM, ActiveX, CORBA, and Java.
Hello World using Python.
Just to give you a little excitement about Python, I'm going to give you a small
conventional Python Hello World program, You can try it using Demo link.
print ("Hello, Python!");
Applications of Python
As mentioned before, Python is one of the most widely used language over the web.
I'm going to list few of them here:
• Easy-to-learn − Python has few keywords, simple structure, and a
clearly defined syntax. This allows the student to pick up the language
quickly.
• Easy-to-read − Python code is more clearly defined and visible to the
eyes.
• Easy-to-maintain − Python's source code is fairly easy-to-maintain.
• A broad standard library − Python's bulk of the library is very portable
and cross-platform compatible on UNIX, Windows, and Macintosh.
• Interactive Mode − Python has support for an interactive mode which
allows interactive testing and debugging of snippets of code.
• Portable − Python can run on a wide variety of hardware platforms and
has the same interface on all platforms.
• Extendable − You can add low-level modules to the Python interpreter.
These modules enable programmers to add to or customize their tools
to be more efficient.
• Databases − Python provides interfaces to all major commercial
databases.
• GUI Programming − Python supports GUI applications that can be
created and ported to many system calls, libraries and windows
systems, such as Windows MFC, Macintosh, and the X Window system
of Unix.
• Scalable − Python provides a better structure and support for large
programs than shell scripting.
Audience
This Python tutorial is designed for software programmers who need to learn
Python programming language from scratch.
Prerequisites
You should have a basic understanding of Computer Programming terminologies. A
basic understanding of any of the programming languages is a plus.
Python is a high-level, interpreted, interactive and object-oriented scripting
language. Python is designed to be highly readable. It uses English keywords
frequently where as other languages use punctuation, and it has fewer syntactical
constructions than other languages.
• Python is Interpreted − Python is processed at runtime by the
interpreter. You do not need to compile your program before executing
it. This is similar to PERL and PHP.
• Python is Interactive − You can actually sit at a Python prompt and
interact with the interpreter directly to write your programs.
• Python is Object-Oriented − Python supports Object-Oriented style or
technique of programming that encapsulates code within objects.
• Python is a Beginner's Language − Python is a great language for the
beginner-level programmers and supports the development of a wide
range of applications from simple text processing to WWW browsers
to games.
History of Python
Python was developed by Guido van Rossum in the late eighties and early nineties
at the National Research Institute for Mathematics and Computer Science in the
Netherlands.
Python is derived from many other languages, including ABC, Modula-3, C, C++,
Algol-68, SmallTalk, and Unix shell and other scripting languages.
Python is copyrighted. Like Perl, Python source code is now available under the GNU
General Public License (GPL).
Python is now maintained by a core development team at the institute, although
Guido van Rossum still holds a vital role in directing its progress.
Python Features
Python's features include −
• Easy-to-learn − Python has few keywords, simple structure, and a
clearly defined syntax. This allows the student to pick up the language
quickly.
• Easy-to-read − Python code is more clearly defined and visible to the
eyes.
• Easy-to-maintain − Python's source code is fairly easy-to-maintain.
• A broad standard library − Python's bulk of the library is very portable
and cross-platform compatible on UNIX, Windows, and Macintosh.
• Interactive Mode − Python has support for an interactive mode which
allows interactive testing and debugging of snippets of code.
• Portable − Python can run on a wide variety of hardware platforms and
has the same interface on all platforms.
• Extendable − You can add low-level modules to the Python interpreter.
These modules enable programmers to add to or customize their tools
to be more efficient.
• Databases − Python provides interfaces to all major commercial
databases.
• GUI Programming − Python supports GUI applications that can be
created and ported to many system calls, libraries and windows
systems, such as Windows MFC, Macintosh, and the X Window system
of Unix.
• Scalable − Python provides a better structure and support for large
programs than shell scripting.
Apart from the above-mentioned features, Python has a big list of good features, few
are listed below −
• It supports functional and structured programming methods as well as
OOP.
• It can be used as a scripting language or can be compiled to byte-code
for building large applications.
• It provides very high-level dynamic data types and supports dynamic
type checking.
• It supports automatic garbage collection.
• It can be easily integrated with C, C++, COM, ActiveX, CORBA, and Java.
Python is available on a wide variety of platforms including Linux and Mac OS X. Let's
understand how to set up our Python environment.
Local Environment Setup
Open a terminal window and type "python" to find out if it is already installed and
which version is installed.
• Unix (Solaris, Linux, FreeBSD, AIX, HP/UX, SunOS, IRIX, etc.)
• Win 9x/NT/2000
• Macintosh (Intel, PPC, 68K)
• OS/2
• DOS (multiple versions)
• PalmOS
• Nokia mobile phones
• Windows CE
• Acorn/RISC OS
• BeOS
• Amiga
• VMS/OpenVMS
• QNX
• VxWorks
• Psion
• Python has also been ported to the Java and .NET virtual machines
Getting Python
The most up-to-date and current source code, binaries, documentation, news, etc., is
available on the official website of Python https://www.python.org/
You can download Python documentation from https://www.python.org/doc/. The
documentation is available in HTML, PDF, and PostScript formats.
