Practical Python Course: Build Real World Projects

Python is a popular general-purpose programming language that can be used for a wide variety of applications. It includes high-level data structures, dynamic typing, dynamic binding, and many more features that make it as useful for complex application development as it is for scripting or “glue code” that connects components together. It can also be extended to make system calls to almost all operating systems and to run code written in C or C++. Due to its ubiquity and ability to run on nearly every system architecture, Python is a universal language found in a variety of different applications.

Those new to programming can benefit from Python’s high level of abstraction. It is highly interactive and known for its “strong opinions” around specific syntax (including whitespace). Python, like other high-level languages, has a garbage collection process to manage memory or delete unused resources. A user can receive instant feedback from the interpreter by typing python on the command line or by using projects like JupyterLab if they want a browser-based development experience. Many users also appreciate that Python has a strict syntax enforced by the compiler, making it easy to have a single “right way” to write a program.

Many organizations are Python users. Some of the most vocal and best-known Python-using companies include:

• Mozilla, best known for Firefox, says it has over “230k lines of code” written in Python.
• Google shares its internal Python training.
• Microsoft promotes Python development with its IDE, Visual Studio Code.
• Netflix shares its extensive use of Python for everything from regional failover monitoring software to data science.
• Uber says it uses Jupyter Notebook and IPython to share data.
• Reddit is largely written in Python and shares the source code on GitHub.
• Dropbox has been a public advocate for Python 3 in its infrastructure.
• Slack, Digital Ocean, Lyft, Sauce Labs, and Fastly all mention using Python in an Increment article.
• Many financial firms, such as CapitalOne, Bloomberg, and JPMorgan, recruit Python developers.