Though Python language came into being in early 1990’s, yet it is competing with ever-popular languages such as C, C++, java etc. in popularity index. Although, it is not perfect for every type of application, yet it has many strengths that make it a good choice for many situations. Let’s see what are these pluses of Python.
Pluses of Python
- Easy to use OO Language
- Expressive Language
- Interpreted Language
- Its Completeness
- Cross-platform Language
- Free and Open Source
- Variety of Usage / Applications
1- Easy to Use
Python is compact and very easy to use object oriented language with very simple syntax rules. It is a very high level language and thus very-very programmer-friendly.
2- Expressive Language
Python’s expressiveness means it is more capable to expressing the code’s purpose than many other languages. Reason being – fewer lines of code, simpler syntax.
For example, consider following two sets of codes :
// In C++ : Swap Values int a = 2, b = 3, temp ; temp = a ; a = b ;
b= temp ;
#In Python : Swap values
a,b = 2,3
a ,b = b,a
which one is compact and easier to understand ? Need I say more ? . This is the simplest example, you’ll find many more such examples of Python’s expressiveness in the due course.
3- Interpreted Language
Python is an interpreted language, not a complied language. This means that the Python installation interprets and executes the code line by line at a time. It makes Python an easy-to-debug language and thus suitable for beginners to advanced users.
4- It Completeness
When you install Python, you get everything you need to do real work. You do not need to download and install additional libraries ; all types of required functionality is available through various modules of python standard library¹. For example, for diverse functionality such as emails, web- pages, databases, GUI development, network connections and many more, everything is available in python standard library. Thus, it is also called – Python follows ” Batteries Included ” philosophy.
5-Cross-platform Language
Python can run equally well on variety of platforms – Windows, Linux/UNIX, Macintosh, supercomputers, smart phones etc². Isn’t that amazing ? And that makes pythona true cross-platform language. Or in other words, python is a portable language.
6- Free and Open Source
Python language is freely available i.e., without any cost (from www. pyhton.org). And not only is it free, its source-code (i.e., complete program instructions) is also available, i.e., it is open-source also. Do you know, you can modify, improve/extend an open-source software !
7- Variety of Usage/Applications
Python has evolved into a powerful, complete and useful language over these years. These days python is being used in many diverse fields/applications, some of which are :
- Scripting
- Rapid Prototyping
- Web Applications
- GUI Programs
- Game development
- Database Applications
- System Administrations
