Python

A general-purpose programming language with batteries included.

Python is a high-level, dynamically typed, interpreted programming language with a deliberately simple syntax that makes it accessible to newcomers and pleasant for experienced programmers. It ships with a rich standard library — networking, file handling, data structures, testing, command-line argument parsing, and many other domains — that covers most everyday tasks without external dependencies.

Guido van Rossum started Python at CWI (Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica) in late 1989. He held the title of Benevolent Dictator For Life until 2018, when governance moved to an elected Python Steering Council. Python's release cadence is annual; recent versions have brought substantial performance improvements through projects like Faster CPython. The packaging ecosystem (pip, virtualenv, the more recent uv and Poetry tools) has gone through several iterations of evolution.

Python has become the dominant language for scientific computing (NumPy, SciPy, pandas), machine learning (PyTorch, TensorFlow, scikit-learn, JAX), data engineering (Airflow, dbt), web backend work (Django, Flask, FastAPI), automation, and teaching. It is the default scripting language on most Linux distributions and one of the most-taught programming languages in introductory computer science courses worldwide.

License: PSF License (GPL-compatible)

Category: Language

Website: https://www.python.org/

Install

Debian/Ubuntu: sudo apt install python3 python3-pip
Fedora/RHEL:   sudo dnf install python3 python3-pip
Arch:          sudo pacman -S python python-pip
macOS:         brew install python

Authors

Guido van Rossum (creator)
Python Steering Council and contributors

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