Python is a general-purpose programming language known for a syntax that is close to plain English. Instead of curly braces and semicolons, you show the structure of the code with indentation, and that keeps it readable.
A short example#
for name in ["Ali", "Sara"]:
print("Hello", name)These few lines greet each name. Simplicity like this is why many schools and introductory courses start with Python.
Where it is used#
- Artificial intelligence and machine learning: almost all the main tools in this field are built for Python.
- Data analysis: working with tables, statistics and charts.
- Automation: scripts that do repetitive jobs such as renaming files or fetching information from the web.
- Web back ends: with frameworks such as Django and Flask.
Weaknesses#
Python generally runs slower than languages such as C++ or Rust, and it is not the first choice for mobile apps. For heavy workloads, the performance-critical parts are written in a faster language while Python acts as the glue.
Libraries#
Much of the power of Python comes from its ready-made libraries; there is a package for almost any task, installed with the pip tool. In some regions access to package repositories can be restricted, in which case you may need to use a mirror.