Introduction to Python Programming

Introduction to Python Programming

An Ultimate Guide to learning Python Programming

In this article, we'll be looking at an introduction to Python programming, its uses, code editing tools, how to get started and learning resources etc.

Python

Python is a multi-purpose programming language created by Guido van Rossum and released in 1991. It is similar to Perl, Ruby, Scheme, or Java.

Python supports several programming paradigms such as procedural, object-oriented and functional methods.

Just like every other object-oriented programming language Python also has several data types, such as numbers (floating point, complex, and unlimited-length long integers), strings (both ASCII and Unicode), lists, and dictionaries.

Python is an easy-to-learn and easy-to-use programming language with large standard libraries that can perform numerous tasks out of the box. Python is an open-source tool with open-source license that can used to build program(s) executable on any operating system.

Python is free for download, modification and integration into applications without a cost.

If you're new to programming and all of these terminologies sound strange, I'll recommend this book available on Amazon to help you get up to speed titled: Tech is Easy to Learn: Simplifying tech to help you get started in your area of interest

Python has two major version V2 and V3. The current version of the Python software release at the time of writing this article is 3.12 (02 Oct 2023)

Uses of Python

The Python programming language can be used for any of the following:

  • Web applications (Flask, Django)

  • Machine Learning

  • Data Science

  • Artificial Intelligence

  • Software Testing

  • APIs (Falcon, Bottle, FastApi)

  • Data collection (Web scrapping)

  • Automation (CI/CD, Infrastructure monitoring, clean ups, task automation) / System scripting

  • Mathematics

  • Bot

  • Blockchain

  • Game applications

Python is used in most companies such as Google, Netflix, Instagram, Facebook, Amazon etc to build large applications.

Code Editors for Python Programming

The following are some of the code editing tools for writing python codes:

First Python application

To write and run a Python application you need the Python interpreter installed on your machine which can be found here available for Windows, MAC and Linux with a pretty simple installation guide.

Let's write a simple Python program that accepts a user name as input and outputs the name with a greeting message.

name = input("Enter your full name: ")
print("Hello "  + name + ", Welcome to Python")

The first line of code: Through the built-in input function of Python the user can enter their full name and have it stored in a variable "name".

The second line of code: the user gets a message with their name through another in-built Python function "print"

Due to the simplicity of Python, the code above can be understood.

Output

Yea - Feels good! .

Recommended Python Resources for learning

Conclusion

Python is an easy-to-learn and use programming language. Python programming language's multi-purpose application, simplicity, and large community make it powerful. The most recommended way to master Python programming language is to read and understand the documentation progressively and stay up-to-date with the Python developer's community. Watch out for the next article to continue your Python developer journey.

If you're looking forward to learning more about OOP (Object-oriented programming), the major concepts are simplified on my blog here.

Highly recommended to read this article titled: Most Recommended Ways to Master a Programming Language or Framework: which covers the best of the skills to master any programming language or framework

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