Python: The top 10 Programming Languages of the Year 2017

Python is a general utility programming language that is used for general purpose programming. The core design of Python focuses on simplicity in coding, using better code readability for faster learning by users. Even though it is aimed at beginners in the programming field, it is also heavily used and preferred by professional coders as well. Since it is so easy to learn, is used a lot of educational institutions to teach coding. It beats out Java by a mile in terms of ease of learning. Python is so popular that globally famous organizations such as NASA (Space Agency, USA), PBS (Broadcasting Company, USA) and Reddit, the online forum all use Python for their respective websites.

Why Learn Python?

The unique selling proposition of Python is that it is a general-purpose language. Python can be used to build almost anything ranging from games to productivity tools and a whole lot more. This can be made easier with the right tools/libraries.

Python is most suitable for data analysis, scientific computing, backend web development and artificial intelligence. Developers have also been known to use Python for desktop apps and games and so on. Given below are the set of attributes that explain why Python is popular with developers across the world.

1. Beginner Friendly:

The use of python is an incentive in itself since not only is it easy to understand but it is also really fun to use. It is possible to build tools and prototypes rapidly in python with most developers finding coding in python a gratifying exercise. Therefore, Python being simple and fun to use makes it the bet coding tool for beginners beating out Java as the most chosen introductory language at learning institutes.

2. Easily Understandable:

Even though Python is a high-level language it reads like English! This is very helpful for coding aspirants who might find it stressful to cope with learning the coding syntax. This frees up the beginner to concentrate on picking up programming concepts rather than getting caught in the minutia of coding.

3. High Flexibility:

In Python, the rules on how to build features are not too restrictive in nature and this gives it added flexibility in feature building.  While using Python you will have a higher level of flexibility in solving problems as well.  Another unique feature of Python is that compiling a program is easy and possible even with error (only until one comes across the buggy part).

4. Selective Scalability Issues:

The scalability of Python is a complex issue with scaling being possible in Python while making the code runtime attain reasonable scaling. Scaling is possible if you add more CPUs to resolve the scaling issue.

In actuality, Python is not scalable due to its restricted ability for multitasking.

What compounds the non-scalability issue is the host of interfaces and add-ons from different lower level languages to itself (Python).

Another factor is the use of other existing compiler technologies.

5. Python Maintenance Challenges:

A dynamic programming language is one in which common programming commands are executed during run-time itself as opposed to static programming wherein programming commands are executed only during compilation. This also means that the Python app will present more challenges in terms of complexity in tracking errors in coding and fixing them. This further means that a coder will require greater levels of experience and insight to design code and to write unit tests and smooth over maintainability.

6. Python Speed Issues:

The other challenge of Python being a dynamically typed language is that it is overly flexible. This means that referencing will consume a lot of time (to find the definition of something) which leads to performance slowdown.

The solution to this problem comes in the form of alternatives such as PyPy which is a faster implementation of Python. Now, even though this implementation is not as speedy as java, it still makes a dent in the performance slowdown and speeds up the whole process.

7. Massive Community Support:

Another great feature of Python is the supportive developer community which reaches out to anyone who needs help with their coding tasks. This is essential in the Programming world. It goes without saying that the bigger an online community gets, the more chances one stands of receiving a prompt reply to their coding challenge. This helps a lot in easing into the process of development.

8. Career Opportunities for Python:

The beginning of 2016 saw Python host an impressive set of statistics about careers int its programming language. The global job portal Hired.com has said that Python has been in the top slot of companies looking to hire programmers beating out HTML?CSS Java and Frontend by a mile.

Around 40% of professional either choose or already have chosen Python as the weapon of choice for programming in most applications

Another established global job portal Indeed.com has shown that around 43,000 jobs in the USA have been taken up by Python professionals raking in anywhere from $70,000 to $115,000 per year as salary.

The most popular Python Job Profiles include that of Research Analyst, Data Analyst, Data Scientist, Software Developer and more depending on the level of experience and the domain it is established in.

Angel List, which is an online hub for start-ups has said that Python is, in fact, the second most wanted skill in the market and ha the highest salary that is offered.

Python can be readily integrated into web applications to execute tasks that need machine learning. This means that along with the boom in Big Data, Python Developers are now in high demand as data scientists and data analysts and other synonymous designations.

9. Open Extensibility of Python:

Programming languages don’t depend on the core language alone but on several occasion will need to reuse entire blocks of generic code to suit larger patches of complex code to execute much more complicated functions. Therefore a programming language will also need to have a ready database of code that is ready to be used or fit into existing programs so that the programmers don’t have to write repetitive lines of code and can focus on the entire coding task as a whole and not on the less important generic and repetitive pieces of code. There is something called a library module within a coding language which are used by programmers to accomplish a generic or common task. A library module is a set of instructions to carry out certain related tasks.
This is where Python stands out by having a massive standard library which is actually built into the core language. This is also paired with a host of other inter-related third party modules.

10. Cross-platform Access

Python is a language that can be used irrespective of the platform is works on, be it MAC OS X, Microsoft Windows, Linux or several other operating systems and a host of other devices.

Python Anywhere is also a unique feature where Python can be had as a service through websites.

This is an especially useful feature when dealing with educational viewpoints of language usage, where students, teachers and other people from educational institutes can use Python for learning and instruction. Using Python, users can just point their browser at a website of interest and be presented with a completely functional Python Development environment without needing installation any third party software.

This “tunability” extends far beyond by it being able to run on devices such as Raspberry Pi which is a small form device. It is also able to run on microcontrollers which are nothing but tiny low-powered chips which are designed to run in embedded appliances.

The Road Ahead for Python

It is remarkable that Python has now been ranked as the fourth most popular programming language out of a hundred existing programming languages by the TIOBE index. The TIOBE index is a measure of a popularity of software’s based on data from search engines such as Google, Yahoo, Bing and a whole lot more.

Web application framework such as Ruby on Rails and Node.js is seeing a meteoric rise in use and application in the current market scenario. This has led to Python being chosen as the primary prototyping language for backend web development in a lesser amount than before. But this is being counteracted by the rise of Big Data and the fact that it is easy to integrate Python into Big Data.

The open source aspect of Python keeps itself relevant to open source code enthusiasts by maintaining regular updates and introducing new versions of Python in a timely manner.

Another interesting statistic about Python is that all the said features of Python have seen a marked rise in the interest of new professionals to take up programming. A leading global survey firm has found that the number of people interested in learning Python has grown by 22.1% in 2015 alone!