What is Python and how do you get started?
Let’s start from the beginning: what is Python and why should you learn it?
Python is one of the world’s most popular programming languages. It powers a huge number of extremely influential apps and websites, including Instagram, Google, Spotify, and Netflix. Python is also commonly used in data science and machine learning, which makes it a very “future-proof” language and one that is likely to stay in-demand for a long time.
Python powers a huge number of extremely influential apps and websites, including Instagram, Google, Spotify, and Netflix.
Despite its clear power and flexibility though, Python is also one of the most beginner-friendly programming languages you’re likely to come across. Python serves as a fantastic “gateway drug” into the world of coding, and offers a gentle introduction to higher-level concepts such as object-oriented programming.
Python is also one of the most beginner-friendly programming languages.
Development on Python began in the 1980s, led by Guido van Rossum at Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica in the Netherlands. This was very much Guido’s brainchild, and he even dubbed himself the language’s “Benevolent Dictator for Life” (BDFL) though he would step down from this role in 2018, passing responsibility on to the Python Steering Council instead.
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What is Python in programming terms? Python was conceived as an alternative to the ABC language. It is an interpreted, dynamically typed, garbage-collected language that supports numerous paradigms (object-oriented, procedural, functional).
If you’re just starting out, you don’t need to worry about any of this. Just know that Python is relatively simple to learn, but also highly in-demand and very powerful. Let’s take a look at how to get started with it and how to build your first, very simple, app.
How to get started with Python
First things first, you will need to download some software to use to start programming in Python.
If you’re on a desktop computer, that means two things:
A Python interpreter
A Python IDE
What is a Python interpreter? This is the software that reads the Python code and runs it. Installing an interpreter is like teaching your computer how to speak a foreign language.
The IDE meanwhile, is the “Integrated Development Environment.” This is the program that you will use to actually type your Python code into. You can save and open files this way, and all on the interpreter when you want to run it. This is your interface for Python development.
When installing an interpreter, you need to decide whether you’re going to choose Python 2 or Python 3. Each version has pros and cons, but Python 2 is no longer officially supported, making Python 3 the future-proof choice.
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