1. Introduction to Python#

Author: Tue Nguyen

1.1. Outline#

  • What is Python?

  • History of Python

  • Who uses Python?

  • Python 2 vs. 3

1.2. What is Python?#

Python is a general-purpose programming language. General-purpose simply means it can do a lot of stuff in many different fields. Here are some examples

  • Data science

  • Scientific computing

  • Software development

  • Web development

  • Game development

  • Graphical User Interface (GUI)

  • Embedded systems

  • And many more

1.3. History of Python#

Here is a very brief history of Python

  • Python was created by Guido van Rossum in 1989 as a toy probject

  • Guido then used Python in a project at his workplace

  • Python was received good feedback from Guido’s colleagues

  • Thus, he decided to make Python open source

  • First released in 1991

  • Since then Python has grown consistently and become one of the most popular programming languages

  • As of May 2022, it is the most popular programming language according to the TIOBE

1.4. Who uses Python?#

A lot!

  • Individiuals: programmers, engineers, economists, analysts, or social sciences students/researchers

  • Organizations: tech companies, investment banks, universities, and research institutes

1.5. Python 2 or 3?#

The quick answer is Python 3

  • Python 2 has some serious issues (which I will not discuss here)

  • Thus the Python core team just started a completely new version - Python 3

  • Code written in Python 2 might not work with Python 3 and vice versa

  • Python 2 was officially sunset on 1/1/2020 (no more improvement)

  • In short, Python 2 is almost dead now, so use Python 3

1.6. Summary#

  • Python is a general-purpose programming language that can handle many classes of problems such as data science, software dev, web dev, etc.

  • Python was created by Guido van Rossum in 1989 and was first released in 1991

  • As of May 2022, Python is the most popular language according to TIOBE

  • Python is used by many professionals and organizations

  • Python 2 is outdated, use Python 3