A language with a philosophy
Python is an interpreted, object-oriented, dynamically typed programming language created by Guido van Rossum in the early 1990s at CWI in Amsterdam. Version 2.1, released in April 2001, introduces two significant additions: nested scoping (PEP 227), which aligns variable visibility rules with what most programmers intuitively expect, and weak references (PEP 205), which allow holding a reference to an object without preventing its garbage collection.
Behind the technical choices lies an explicit philosophy. The document known as the Zen of Python — viewable by typing import this in the interpreter — states principles such as “Readability counts” and “There should be one — and preferably only one — obvious way to do it”. In a landscape where Perl celebrates the opposite motto (“There’s more than one way to do it”), Python chooses readability as a design priority.
Batteries included
One of its key strengths is the standard library. Python ships with modules for file handling, sockets, HTTP and FTP protocols, XML parsing, regular expressions, unit testing and much more. This approach — known as batteries included — reduces reliance on external libraries and accelerates prototyping.
On the web side, Zope is currently the reference application server for Python developers: a complete environment with an integrated object database and content management. For system scripting, Python stands alongside Perl and Bash as an automation language on Unix and Linux platforms.
Scientific computing and community
In the scientific domain, the Numeric project provides data structures for multidimensional arrays and linear algebra operations, making Python an interesting alternative to MATLAB for numerical prototyping. The academic community is adopting the language both for teaching — thanks to clean syntax that reduces the learning curve — and for research.
The Python community is organised around PEPs (Python Enhancement Proposals), a transparent process for the language’s evolution. Every change goes through public discussion and review, following a governance model that balances pragmatism with technical rigour.
Link: python.org