Python is a high-level, general-purpose programming language. It was created by Guido van Rossum and first released in 1991.
Python is known for its simplicity, readability, and versatility, has a rich and fascinating history that spans several decades.
Python continues to be used in a wide range of applications, including web development, data science, machine learning, automation, scientific computing, and more.
Python was conceptualized and developed by Guido van Rossum, a Dutch programmer, in the late 1980s at Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI) in the Netherlands.
1989: The first version of Python, Python 0.9.0, was released internally at CWI.
1991: The first version of Python, Python 0.9.0, was released in February 1991. This marked the official beginning of Python's journey and the first public version of Python.
1994: Python 1.0 was released, bringing essential features like lambda, map, filter, and support for complex numbers.
2000: Python 2.0 introduced significant enhancements, including list comprehensions, garbage collection, and Unicode support.
2008: Python 3.0, also known as Python 3000 or "Py3k," was a major milestone. It brought about fundamental changes to the language to address inconsistencies and improve its design
After the 2010s: Python's popularity among developers and Organizations increased, especially in fields like machine learning, data science and web development. Python's rich ecosystem of libraries and frameworks makes Python a favourite among developers.
Subsequent Releases: Python has continued to evolve with regular releases, each introducing new features, optimizations, and improvements.
As of last update, the latest stable release of Python is Python 3.12.x, which was released in Feb 2024. Python 3.12.x introduces several new features as below mentioned:
Support for the buffer protocol in Python code (PEP 688).
A new debugging/profiling API (PEP 669).
Support for isolated subinterpreters with separate Global Interpreter Locks (PEP 684).
Even more improved error messages.
More exceptions potentially caused by typos now make suggestions to the user.
Support for the Linux perf profiler to report Python function names in traces.
Since Python launched, Python has evolved into a widely used and influential programming language, embraced by educators, developers and organizations globally.
Python's growth in popularity has been remarkable, driven by its simplicity, readability, and versatility.
It has become one of the most widely used programming languages in the world, embraced by developers across diverse domains and industries.
Python's vibrant community and ecosystem of libraries and frameworks contribute to its widespread adoption and continued growth.
Development: The Python Software Foundation (PSF) was established in 2001 and oversees the development of Python, ensuring its ongoing maintenance, improvement, promote, protect and support.
Continued Growth: Python continues growing in popularity and is considered one of the top programming languages in various surveys and rankings.
Innovation: With ongoing advancements in development in areas like machine learning, data science, AI, and web development, Python is well-positioned to remain one of the leading languages for innovation and development in the future as well.
Python Continuously Dominating in very sectors such as:
Data Science and Machine Learning: Python is widely used for data analysis, data visualization, and machine learning tasks, due to the availability of powerful libraries and frameworks.
Artificial Intelligence and Deep Learning: Python is the most popular language for AI and deep learning, with libraries such as TensorFlow and PyTorch making it easy to build complex neural network models.
Web Development: Python has a strong presence in web development, with popular web frameworks such as Django and Flask that make it easy to build web applications.
Scripting and Automation: Python’s simplicity and ease of use make it a popular choice for scripting and automation tasks.
Internet of Things (IoT): IoT development is made easier with Python’s versatility and ease of use, with a wide variety of libraries and frameworks available.