Today there are many popular and sophisticated web-programming languages. All of them, without doubt, deserve a close attention and have undeniable advantages. Every company and every task requires a special solution, that’s why we need them all. But what is so special about Python if, as everybody knows, it was chosen by such companies as Facebook, Instagram, Netflix, Dropbox, Spotify, Quora, Reddit, and, of course, Google? There should be a solid explanation, and that’s what we are going to outline in this post.
This article is for:
- Startups searching an acceptable language for their ideas implementation,
- Programmers or students deciding what language to learn,
- Companies willing to intercept the experience of IT leaders.
We’ll try to answer the questions concerning:
- What is Python used for nowadays?
- How the companies benefited from acquiring Python?
- What are the advantages of this prominent language?
The roadmap is clear, then we start.
Python Development: Benefits & Features
Python is a general-purpose dynamic programming language with special syntax and extended code readability. It’s also very flexible as it embraces multiple paradigms of programming in one language.This language doesn’t limit the coders in the areas of possible usage and system complexity. Despite this, the language pays enough attention to the code formatting. This makes it readable and maintainable a lot, which ensures the code will work longer and have fewer bugs.The steps to do programming are reduced in Python compared to Java or C, that’s why it enables creating working product quicker and with fewer expenses. Add to these features an automatic memory management with really big standard library and see the undeniable better hand of this outstanding tool.What is Python used for in web development? It allows to build a solid responsive website or service with no limits on the complexity and number of users.What also makes Python a great choice is the following.
Machine Learning Uses Python
There are many projects concerning sophisticated machine learning algorithms, which use Python. Such projects now are in trend and there are prospects that machine learning industry with its processing will grow into one of the leading fields. Correspondingly, Python will also establish as a leading technology for the field.
Data Science Close Match
Why use Python for Data Science? Its extended library contains ready-made methods for data processing. For the same reason, Python is used in many scientific projects now as it has outstanding data visualization features. The simplicity and clarity of the language enable us to create huge projects and complex things without messing up with piles of code.
Asynchronous Operations
Why use python for web development? Python is a multipurpose language. That means it should be equally useful for both small and global projects. The popularity of a service today means the necessity to handle a vast number of request each moment and high loads. This is exactly the task Python can deal with. The improved asynchronous operations give Python an opportunity to compete in reliability with such languages as Java, C#, JavaScript.
Metaprogramming
One of the main benefits of Python is being truly object-oriented. It considers everything to be an object, including its own functions, libraries, modules. This means, Python not only can generate an efficient code but also allow manipulating the functions of the language itself. This can make software as scalable as never before.
Maintenance & Delivery Ease
Have you ever wondered why Python is used on Google? Surely, the company doesn’t limit itself to the use of just one language. Officially, the company also uses C++, Java, and Go for backend development. When they only started to develop a search engine, the decision was made to use Python as much as it’s simply possible in such a great system, otherwise write some complex parts with tough memory control on C++. Why did they do so? Of course, the speed, simplicity, and maintainability of the Python code and development contributed to the solution. Even the scripts written in other languages like Bash or Perl initially were soon rewritten into Python to make the system well integrated and easy to maintain. As we can see, the decision proved to be a success.
Python as Top Companies’ Favorite
Facebook & Instagram
Facebook is very keen on Python and uses it in the side projects like Instagram too. It’s actually an example of how scalable the Python systems can be. To serve such a big system developers need to make changes in real time, which is also possible with Python.The situation becomes even better with the ease of maintenance. Facebook developers don’t need to rewrite piles of code which were written in a complex manner to make some changes. This factor positively influences the company’s rank among competitors as they can implement new features quicker.Another fact confirming why use Python in Facebook was a good idea is its outstanding compliance for creating APIs. Facebook Ads API is only a single example of such tools, but there are more of them.The Facebook’s brother, Instagram, is known to be written not only in Python but in the framework which was written in Python from beginning to end. This was Django. Being the largest Django deployment in 2016, Instagram praised the simplicity of code writing and ‘simple things first’ philosophy.After some time, they started to enhance not only their product but also the language and web framework. In 2017, the major part of the Instagram code was rewritten in Python 3. The reason is simple: such giants like Facebook and Instagram are on the edge of the biggest technology trends and events. To keep up with the market they need to utilize the best and the sharpest technologies only. If there is no such a technology, they are to create such themselves. Otherwise, the leadership will transfer to those, who did.
Spotify
Spotify uses analytics in their music streaming service written in Python. As we discussed earlier, Python is rich for libraries serving greatly to Data Mining and ML. In addition, the language is also used in the backend of the Spotify, which requires a quick response to the events and fast updates. For that purpose, Python was required to become highly synchronous and maintain 6k+ individual processes. Eventually, the requirement was met and customers received a great product.
Dropbox
Dropbox is another prominent company with a special connection to Python. The Python’s creator, Guido van Rossum, worked as an engineer to implement this startup from scratch. All you need to know from this paragraph is that if you ever used Dropbox and know what loads it faces every day, Python allows processing them all smoothly. It works in a way to hold the leadership in cloud file storing for 6 years already.
Summary: Why Should One Use Python?
Why we use Python language? That’s because the code is clear, the run is smooth, and the possibilities aren’t limited. You can choose every niche for your company and Python will be of great use in it. You can establish a new giant with millions of everyday users, and it’s also not a problem with Python. In the end, you might build something small for your own usage, and it will be also both commercially and technically wise solution. Python is about everything, that’s why it’s the choice of the leaders.