# Python

> A popular programming language known for being easy to read and quick to write.

- Level: Basic
- Topics: Software
- URL: https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/python/
- In Spanish: [Python](https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/es/python/)

**Python** is a general-purpose programming language created by Guido van Rossum and first released in 1991. Its main idea is that code is read far more often than it is written, so it should look clean: a Python program uses plain words like `for`, `in` and `if`, and indentation (the spaces at the start of a line) to show which lines belong together.

It is used almost everywhere: data analysis, AI and machine learning, automating boring tasks with small scripts, web servers, scientific research and teaching. Much of its strength comes from its huge collection of free libraries, ready-made code you can install with one command, for things like reading spreadsheets, drawing charts or training neural networks.

Python is usually run by an **interpreter**, a program that reads your code and executes it line by line, instead of being compiled ahead of time. That makes it fast to try things out but slower than languages like C for heavy number crunching; in practice the heavy parts of popular Python libraries are written in faster languages underneath.

## An analogy

A well-written instruction manual with big headings and clear indentation: you can tell at a glance which steps belong to which section, even if you did not write it.

## Keep in mind

- Created by Guido van Rossum; first released in 1991. The name comes from Monty Python, not the snake.
- Indentation is part of the language: it defines which lines go together.
- Dominant in data science and AI thanks to its libraries.
- Free and open source, run by the Python Software Foundation.

## Go deeper

- [About Python (python.org)](https://www.python.org/about/)
- [The official Python tutorial](https://docs.python.org/3/tutorial/index.html)
- [Python on Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Python_(programming_language))

## Related terms

- [Programming language](https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/programming-language/): A precise, written language people use to give instructions to a computer.
- [Artificial intelligence](https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/artificial-intelligence/): Getting computers to do things that, until recently, only people could do.
- [Machine learning](https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/machine-learning/): Teaching computers by showing them examples instead of writing every rule.
- [Server](https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/server/): A computer whose job is to answer requests from other computers, all day, every day.
- [Spreadsheet vs database](https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/spreadsheet-vs-database/): Why a company that runs on Excel eventually needs a real database.
- [Training and inference](https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/training-and-inference/): Training builds the model once; inference is using it, millions of times a day.
- [Neural network](https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/neural-network/): A pile of tiny math units that learns patterns from examples.
- [Data science](https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/data-science/): Using statistics, code and business sense to answer questions with data.