The advent of Python has made computer programming languages less of a technical skill and more of a universal tool that everyone can learn and use. A recent Economist feature on Python reveals the magic programming language that has brought computer thinking into the home of ordinary people.

The popularity of Python in today’s programming world is fueled by a simple phrase:

Born in December 1989, Python was originally a Christmas project set up for himself by Dutch computer scientist Guido van Rossum.

Since other programming languages at the time had all sorts of drawbacks, the scientist wanted to create his own.

His principles for programming languages were simple: first, as a programming language it should be easy to read, with each line of command in a block written in indentation rather than curly braces; Second, it should allow users to create their own specialized coding module packages, which can then be made available to others as a basis for writing new programs. Third, he wanted a name that was “short, unique and slightly mysterious.”

So he named the language after the British comedy team Monty Python, and its package repository is called the Cheese Shop.

Nearly 30 years after his Christmas project was invented, Mr. Van Rossum has become a Monty Python figure in the tech world, much like the saviour in the movie “The Life of Brian.” “I didn’t set out to create a language for mass consumption,” he explains.

But in the past 12 months, Google users in the US searched Python more often than they did TV star Kim Kardashian.

A chart from The Economist shows that Python’s query rate has tripled since 2010, while that of other programming languages has been flat or falling (see chart).



According to Stack Overflow, a programming forum, the language’s popularity is growing not only among professional developers, but also among the general public, with nearly 40 percent of professional developers currently using it and 25 percent saying they will use it in the future.

Python is by far the biggest increase in demand, says Codecademy, a website that teaches 45m new people how to use languages.

Pythonistas, as you know, have added more than 145,000 packages to the Cheese Shop, covering everything from astronomy to game development.

Mr Van Rossum is happy that people like to use his software, but finds it hard to live with the role he now plays as a “benevolent dictator” who can no longer guarantee its rigor. He does not want to be put on a pedestal.

Here’s what he said:

I’m having trouble getting used to this kind of fame, which sounds weird, like Brian trying to get rid of his disciples. Sometimes I feel like everything I say or do will be seen as a godlike power, and it’s hard for me to accept that.

So on July 12 of this year, he left the Python management team, leaving Python developers to govern themselves ever since.

Can you learn Python and be a statistician? It doesn’t exist!

Python is not perfect, and other languages are far more efficient and specialized.

C and C ++ are low-level languages that give users more control over what happens inside a computer processor. Java is popular for building large, complex applications; JavaScript is the preferred language for applications accessed through a Web browser; There are various other languages that have been optimized for different purposes.

Teacher Aikeke, one of the world’s leading microbloggers, said the same about Python.

As above, the post reads:

Tell people to learn C to become a true master, yes, but not everyone needs to become a master; For most of us, programming thinking and algorithmic problem-solving are enough. Languages that are fast to learn, simple, universal, and allow people to experience the “beauty of programming” as quickly as possible are best for universal education.

Indeed, what makes Python a good general-purpose language in the rough is its killer qualities — simple syntax and easy to learn; Open source platform for easy sharing; And its own but large third-party software packages.

Its versatility is reflected in its wide range of users and practical applications: the CIA uses it for hacking, Pixar for movie production, Google for web scraping, and Spotify for song recommendations.

Python developers can find several excellent packages for developing artificial intelligence (AI) in the Cheese Shop. Users can also use these packages to create neural networks that mimic the connections in the brain and extract abstract information from large amounts of data. Mr. Van Rossum says Python has become the language of choice for artificial intelligence researchers, and they have made a lot of software packages for it.

Not all Python developers are so ambitious, however.

Zach Sims, the boss of Codecademy, says many of the visitors to his site are just trying to gain Python skills to help them do what would normally be considered “non-technical” work. For example, marketers can use the language to build statistical models that measure the effectiveness of campaigns; University lecturers can use the language to check that they are giving reasonably distributed grades. (Even Journalists at The Economist usually use crawlers written in Python to scour the web for data.)

Python is especially valuable for professionals who have long relied on spreadsheets. Citigroup, the US financial institution, has launched a crash course in Python for its trainee analysts. EFinancialCareers, a career website, reports that forms mentioning Python increased nearly fourfold between 2015 and the first quarter of 2018.

But learning these skills is not a panacea. The scariest thing in a deal, says Cesar Brea, a partner at Bain&Company, is when “someone learns to use a tool and doesn’t know the rationale behind it.” Without proper supervision, those who are new to the AI library may come to some speculative conclusions. Bernd Ziegler, a partner at Boston Consulting Group, said his firm requires that such analysis be done only by regular data team members.

Rossum’s all-purpose robot

One way to solve this semi-illiteracy problem is to teach them the principles behind language. In 2014, Python has become the most popular entry language at American universities, but Python courses are usually limited to those studying science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. A more radical suggestion is to attract young people by offering computer science to all primary school pupils.

Hadi Partovi, the boss of Code.org, a charity, points out that 40% of American schools now offer such courses, up from 10% in 2013. About two-thirds of 10 – to 12-year-olds have accounts on Code.org. Perhaps because they are nervous about a future full of automated jobs, 90 percent of parents in the United States want their children to study computer science.

But how long Python will stay hot is anyone’s guess.

Every era has a dominant computer language, and while some of them are no longer popular today, they were also popular at that time. In the 1960s, Fortran went global. Basic and Pascal also had their moments as teaching languages for beginners. Mr. Partovi himself has made JavaScript the core syllabus of Code.org, because it remains the standard choice for animated web pages.

No computing language can be truly universal, and specialization is still important. But that Christmas was the only one that Van Rossum will remember for his long history.

He may not be the savior, but he is a wise man.

The article appeared in the print edition of The Broker’s Science & Technology column under the headline “And now for Something completely different.”

Reports link www.economist.com/science-and…

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