How Python Evolved as a Programming Language

91social
4 min readDec 24, 2021

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Python is a high-level programming language that has always been known to focus on simplicity and convenience. It is a programming language that enables developers to write code in various styles and help the rest of the team during key development phases.

As is the case with most of the technologies these days, Python has its own history. So let have a quick dive into it.

How Python was Founded and Started?

Guido Van Russom is one of the main creators of Python who proclaimed to have gotten the idea while he was working on a project with C and it is taking time. Because of the difficulties he faced during this time, Russom decided to create something to make programming much easier.

The First Release

Van Rossum published the source code of Python’s interpreter as its first release in 1991. He took assistance from a Usenet group to access open-source code without any security protocols. Although it appears to be a massive factor, most languages were open-source by then which made it a difficult task for him to promote Python.

Having said so, Guido believes that open-sourcing Python was one of the wise things he did that played a significant role in the success it has achieved today. The first release of Python comprised of features like class, exception handling, functions, reading core datatypes, and more.

During this time, developers and companies started to rush in and adopt the use of Python. Because of the rising demand and popularity, developers started creating languages like Perl and Ruby to accommodate every company.

Growth in Popularity

In the year 1994, Guido Van Russom went to the USA through NIST, also known as the National Institute for Standards and Technology in USA. These organizations showed a keen interest in using Python for several projects and also an expert to boost their Python skills. Guido being the creator of this language, worked out in an ideal way.

With the support of this organization, Russom began to run workshops and take part in conferences to promote Python and attract key contributors that would be major factors in the future.

As we neared the end of the year 2000, Python 2.0 was already creating a buzz among top web app developers with its engaging comprehensions. It consisted of several useful features like Unicode support. It was all set to become one of the best programming languages used for software development.

How Python 3.0 Propagated the Growth

After the success of Python 2.0, most of the core industry developers shifted their focus to Python 3.0. The basic idea here was to reduce unnecessary functions, constructs, and streamline the language with simple syntax. While this took some time, the effort and ideas of several developers were applied here.

Even though Python 3.0 was received with great acceptance, it was complex to implement or adapt in all types of apps. They could move the scripts to Python 3.0 seamlessly as opposed to moving programs that were dependent on third-party libraries which took time to upgrade.

Thus, Python 3.0 improved the language or was at least the catalyst for it as it became easier once Python 2.0 was retired in the year 2020. This is also around the time when the demand for this programming language witnessed a sharp surge.

Sharp Rise of Demand in the Market

There was never a time since Python came onto the scene when it has not seen growth. However, in recent years, the graph has started to shoot up like never before and has now caught the attention of several industry experts and clients.

With the introduction of new technologies like Machine Learning, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, and IoT, most developers are now preferring a simple and easy-to-use language for development. Both these popular traits are available in Python which explains the demand surge.

How Python is Expected to Fare in the Future

Here are a few areas where Python thrives in the market:

Web Development

Millennial app development frameworks like Django, Flask, etc. provide the ideal source for agile and simple web development.

Machine Learning

Python is known to possess the best support for ML compared to most programming languages. The reason for this is the support of various libraries like TensorFlow and Keras.

Data Science

Python comprises innovative tools for data analysis and visualization which make it the ideal choice of language for any type of project related to the data science domain.

91Social Uses Python for Software Development

What makes Python different compared to other programming languages is that it is easier for even a budding to understand the program and start working on it immediately. This feature of Python helps organizations deliver quality products in quick times as per market demand.

91Social extensively supports the use of Python programing language in our software development projects to ensure our clients can deliver products and applications that meet user requirements and the current trend.

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