What is Python?

Python, named after the British comedy group Monty Python, is an interpreted, interactive, object-oriented programming language. Its flexibility allows it to do many things, both big and small. Python can be used to write simple programs, but it also possesses the full power required to create complex, large-scale enterprise solutions. Some of the ways in which Python is used includes:

  • Desktop graphical application development, including games;
  • Mathematical and scientific analysis of data; and
  • Web and internet development.

Python’s presence in the world of computer programming can be found everywhere. For example, Python is used in some of the largest internet sites on earth - like Reddit, Dropbox, and Youtube, to name a few. The popular Python web framework Django powers both Instagram and Pinterest. LucasFilms’s award winning visual effects company, Industrial Light & Magic, uses Python to make help make their magic come to life.

It’s easy to forget just how powerful Python is because it’s so easy to learn.

Python Properties

Python is…

  1. Strongly typed. It enforces data types so you can’t concatenate a string and a integer, for example.
  2. Dynamically, implicitly typed. So, you don’t have to explicitly declare variable data types. Data types are enforced at runtime.
  3. Case sensitive. For example, token and TOKEN are two different variables.
  4. Object-oriented. Everything is an object.

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Get a Python Cheat Sheet (PDF) and learn the basics of Python 3, like working with data types, dictionaries, lists, and Python functions:

Python Cheat Sheet

2018

Pipenv: A Guide to the New Python Packaging Tool

Apr 24, 2018 tools python

Python 3's pathlib Module: Taming the File System

Apr 23, 2018 python

Python Modules and Packages – An Introduction

Apr 17, 2018 fundamentals python

Working With JSON Data in Python

Apr 16, 2018 fundamentals python

Look Ma, No For-Loops: Array Programming With NumPy

Apr 10, 2018 numpy data-science python

Python Debugging With Pdb

Apr 09, 2018 fundamentals python tools

Introduction to Git and GitHub for Python Developers

Apr 04, 2018 tools fundamentals python

11 Beginner Tips for Learning Python Programming

Apr 03, 2018 python

Thinking Recursively in Python

Mar 27, 2018 fundamentals python

The Ultimate Guide To Speech Recognition With Python

Mar 21, 2018 machine-learning python

4 Techniques for Testing Python Command-Line (CLI) Apps

Mar 20, 2018 testing python

Python IDEs and Code Editors (Guide)

Mar 13, 2018 tools python editors

Python Project for Beginners: Bitcoin Price Notifications

Mar 08, 2018 python

What is the Python Global Interpreter Lock (GIL)?

Mar 06, 2018 fundamentals python

Python Plotting With Matplotlib (Guide)

Feb 28, 2018 data-science python

Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) in Python 3

Feb 13, 2018 fundamentals python

8 World-Class Software Companies That Use Python

Feb 08, 2018 python

Modern Web Automation With Python and Selenium

Feb 06, 2018 testing scraping python

Shallow vs Deep Copying of Python Objects

Jan 31, 2018 fundamentals python

Python + Memcached: Efficient Caching in Distributed Applications

Jan 30, 2018 python

Simplifying Offline Python Deployments With Docker

Jan 24, 2018 devops docker python

Practical Introduction to Web Scraping in Python

Jan 23, 2018 scraping python

2017

Building a Simple Web App With Bottle, SQLAlchemy, and the Twitter API

Dec 11, 2017 api bottle python

Code Evaluation With AWS Lambda and API Gateway

Sep 25, 2017 devops python

User Authentication With Angular 4 and Flask

Aug 29, 2017 front-end flask python

Test Driven Development of a Django RESTful API

May 02, 2017 api django python

Python's Instance, Class, and Static Methods Demystified

Mar 29, 2017 fundamentals python

Getting Started with Django Channels

Feb 28, 2017 redis django python

Token-Based Authentication With Flask

Jan 24, 2017 flask python

2016

Automating Django Deployments with Fabric and Ansible

Dec 28, 2016 django devops python

Introduction to MongoDB and Python

Dec 12, 2016 nosql fundamentals python

Introduction to Python Generators

Oct 24, 2016 fundamentals python

Caching in Django With Redis

Sep 20, 2016 redis django python

Flask by Example – Custom Angular Directive with D3

Aug 30, 2016 front-end flask python

Testing External APIs With Mock Servers

Jul 06, 2016 testing python

Mocking External APIs in Python

Jun 20, 2016 testing python

Getting Started With the Slack API Using Python and Flask

May 24, 2016 flask python

Deploying Django + Python 3 + PostgreSQL to AWS Elastic Beanstalk

May 10, 2016 django devops python

Python Virtual Environments – A Primer

Mar 28, 2016 tools fundamentals python

Python for Social Scientists

Mar 02, 2016 analytics data-science python

Python-driven Web Applications

Feb 22, 2016 devops python

Development and Deployment of Django on Fedora

Jan 18, 2016 django devops python

PyGame – A Primer

Jan 06, 2016 python

2015

Development and Deployment of Cookiecutter-Django via Docker

Dec 29, 2015 django docker devops python

Emacs – The Best Python Editor?

Nov 30, 2015 tools editors fundamentals python

VIM and Python – A Match Made in Heaven

Oct 27, 2015 tools editors fundamentals python

LinkedIn Social Authentication in Django

Oct 06, 2015 django python

Python Programming Challenge – First to Five

Sep 21, 2015 fundamentals python

Comparing Python Command-Line Parsing Libraries – Argparse, Docopt, and Click

Sep 08, 2015 fundamentals python

Python, Ruby, and Golang: A Web Service Application Comparison

Jul 22, 2015 nosql fundamentals flask python

Asynchronous Tasks With Django and Celery

Jul 08, 2015 redis django python

Using Pandas to Read Large Excel Files in Python

Jun 28, 2015 analytics data-science python

Create a REST API in Minutes With Pyramid and Ramses

Jun 23, 2015 api python

Python, Ruby, and Golang: A Command-Line Application Comparison

Jun 19, 2015 fundamentals python

Handling User Authentication With Angular and Flask

Jun 17, 2015 front-end flask python

The Minimum Viable Test Suite

Jun 08, 2015 testing flask python

Django Development with Docker Compose and Machine

May 18, 2015 redis django docker devops python

Fun with Django's New Postgres Features

May 12, 2015 django python

Scaffold a Flask Project

Apr 27, 2015 flask python

Dockerizing Flask With Compose and Machine – From Localhost to the Cloud

Apr 17, 2015 flask docker devops python

Learn Python the Methodical Way

Apr 03, 2015 fundamentals python

The Ultimate Flask Front-End – Part 2

Mar 25, 2015 front-end flask python

Analyzing Obesity in England With Python

Mar 13, 2015 analytics data-science python

The Ultimate Flask Front-End

Mar 09, 2015 front-end flask python

API Integration in Python – Part 1

Mar 03, 2015 api fundamentals python

Flask by Example – Updating the UI

Feb 24, 2015 front-end flask python

Web Scraping and Crawling with Scrapy and MongoDB

Feb 18, 2015 nosql scraping python

Docker in Action – Fitter, Happier, More Productive

Feb 10, 2015 docker devops python

The Most Diabolical Python Antipattern

Jan 27, 2015 fundamentals python

Deploying a Django App to AWS Elastic Beanstalk

Jan 22, 2015 django devops python

Setting up a Simple OCR Server

Jan 14, 2015 flask python

2014

Web Scraping with Scrapy and MongoDB

Dec 31, 2014 nosql scraping python

Handling Email Confirmation During Registration in Flask

Dec 26, 2014 flask python

Model-View-Controller (MVC) Explained – With Legos

Dec 20, 2014 fundamentals python

Fingerprinting Images for Near-Duplicate Detection

Dec 18, 2014 data-science opencv python

Caching External API Requests

Dec 05, 2014 api fundamentals flask python

Deploying Django on Dokku

Dec 01, 2014 docker django devops python

Automatically Scale Heroku Dynos

Nov 24, 2014 devops python

Flask by Example – Updating the Staging Environment

Nov 17, 2014 devops flask python

Twitter Sentiment Analysis – Python, Docker, Elasticsearch, Kibana

Nov 13, 2014 docker analytics python

Adding Social Authentication to Django

Nov 10, 2014 django python

Kickstarting Flask on Ubuntu – Setup and Deployment

Oct 26, 2014 devops flask python

Django Rest Framework – Class Based Views

Oct 13, 2014 api django python

Flask by Example – Integrating Flask and Angular

Oct 06, 2014 front-end flask python

Full Stack Development – Fetching Data, Visualizing with D3, and Deploying with Dokku

Oct 01, 2014 devops front-end flask python

Django Rest Framework – An Introduction

Sep 22, 2014 api django python

Flask by Example – Implementing a Redis Task Queue

Sep 08, 2014 redis flask python

Django and AJAX Form Submissions – More Practice

Aug 31, 2014 front-end django python

Django and AJAX Form Submissions – Say 'Goodbye' to the Page Refresh

Aug 25, 2014 front-end django python

Flask by Example – Text Processing with Requests, BeautifulSoup, and NLTK

Aug 18, 2014 data-science flask python

Setting Up Sublime Text 3 for Full Stack Python Development

Aug 11, 2014 tools editors fundamentals python

Inner Functions – What Are They Good For?

Aug 04, 2014 fundamentals python

Data Migrations

Jul 25, 2014 migrations django python

Digging Deeper Into Migrations

Jul 23, 2014 migrations django python

Face Detection in Python Using a Webcam

Jul 22, 2014 machine-learning data-science opencv python

Django Migrations – A Primer

Jul 21, 2014 migrations django python

Face Recognition with Python, in Under 25 Lines of Code

Jul 07, 2014 machine-learning data-science opencv python

Discover Flask, Part 2 – Creating a Login Page

Jun 06, 2014 flask python

Discover Flask, Part 1 – Setting Up a Static Site

Jun 04, 2014 flask python

Python Interview Problem – Parsing CSV Files

May 31, 2014 data-science fundamentals python

Flask by Example – Setting up Postgres, SQLAlchemy, and Alembic

Apr 29, 2014 flask python

Flask by Example – Project Setup

Apr 21, 2014 devops flask python

Using Flask-Login for User Management with Flask

Apr 07, 2014 flask python

Primer on Jinja Templating

Mar 03, 2014 flask python

Primer on Python Decorators

Feb 05, 2014 fundamentals python

Python Web Applications With Flask – Part III

Feb 02, 2014 flask python

Working with Django and Flask on Nitrous.IO

Jan 16, 2014 flask django python

Kickstarting a Django Open Source Project

Jan 12, 2014 django python

Lyricize: A Flask app to create lyrics using Markov chains

Jan 07, 2014 flask python

2013

Transaction Management with Django 1.6

Dec 28, 2013 django python

Django 1.6 Test Driven Development

Dec 20, 2013 django testing python

Rethink Flask – A Simple Todo List Powered by Flask and RethinkDB

Dec 14, 2013 nosql flask python

Python Web Applications With Flask – Part II

Dec 14, 2013 flask python

Migrating your Django Project to Heroku

Nov 05, 2013 devops django python

Generating Code Documentation with Pycco

Oct 11, 2013 django python

An Effective Sales Page with Bootstrap 3

Oct 01, 2013 front-end python

Integration Testing with pyVows and Django

Sep 13, 2013 django testing python

Getting Started with Bootstrap 3

Sep 13, 2013 front-end python

Unit Testing with pyVows and Django

Sep 08, 2013 django testing python

Asynchronous Testing with Django and pyVows

Aug 27, 2013 django testing python

Testing in Django (Part 2) – Model Mommy vs Django Testing Fixtures

Aug 18, 2013 django testing python

Python Web Applications with Flask – Part I

Aug 14, 2013 flask python

Testing in Django (Part 1) – Best Practices and Examples

Aug 06, 2013 django testing python

Create a Super Basic REST API with Django Tastypie

Jul 30, 2013 api django python

Developing with Bottle – Part 2 (plot.ly API)

Jul 13, 2013 bottle python

Headless Selenium Testing with Python and PhantomJS

Jul 08, 2013 testing python

Web2py – Migrating from SQLite to MySQL

Jun 29, 2013 python

Developing with Bottle

Jun 18, 2013 bottle python