Why is Python so Popular?

As of June 2022, Python comprised 12.2% of lines of code published and surpassed C by 0.3%. Python tutorials were also the most Googled tutorials as of December 2019. The rise of Python was relatively recent, with it being ranked fifth most popular according to the percentage of lines of code published in 2017. The increase in popularity of Python can be attributed to the increase in interest for learning to code and its incredible versatility.

Appealing to beginners, Python has an extremely readable and user-friendly syntax and acts as a gateway into programming. Python removes a lot of the more complicated features of other coding languages such as C. Python also resembles English more, simplifying the language. For example, in C a simple loop would be written as “for(int i=0;i<n;i++)”, in Python it would be simply written as “for i in range(n):”. New coders are drawn to Python because it avoids difficult syntax and is much more straight forward.

Many libraries and frameworks such as BeautifulSoup and NumPy increase the versatility of Python, making Python a language that will always be used in applications, from machine learning to game development. For example, BeautifulSoup augments Python by adding web crawling features to easily attain updated information from other websites. All these frameworks work together and can create the most flexible coding languages. Many programmers looking for employment would inevitably have to learn some Python due to its unmatched versatility.

Data related work and machine learning is a crucial and growing area of programming with recent developments in AI. Due to Python’s plethora of libraries such as TensorFlow, 69% of machine learning programmers use it as their main choice. Machine learning is the most user friendly on Python.

The number of programmers and the demand for programmers is constantly on t he rise. This means that more and more programmers will be drawn to Python due to its accessibility and flexibility. Python’s popularity shows a movement in code. While still being extremely popular, languages such as Java and C++ are starting to lose popularity. Accessibility is becoming more and more important for a coding language. By innovating on older languages such as C by offering more accessibility, Python has become the gateway for a new generation of programmers.