Python (programming language)

This article is about the Python programming language. For the animal, see Python (genus).

Python
ParadigmMulti-paradigm: object-oriented,[1] procedural (imperative), functional, structured, reflective
Designed byGuido van Rossum
DeveloperPython Software Foundation
First appeared20 February 1991; 33 years ago (1991-02-20)[2]
Stable release
3.13.0 Edit this on Wikidata / 7 October 2024; 51 days ago (7 October 2024)
Typing disciplineduck, dynamic, strong;[3] optional type annotations (since 3.5, but those hints are ignored, except with unofficial tools)[4]
OS
LicensePython Software Foundation License
Filename extensions.py, .pyw, .pyz,[10]
.pyi, .pyc, .pyd
Websitepython.org
Major implementations
CPython, PyPy, Stackless Python, MicroPython, CircuitPython, IronPython, Jython
Dialects
Cython, RPython, Starlark[11]
Influenced by
ABC,[12] Ada,[13] ALGOL 68,[14]
APL,[15] C,[16] C++,[17] CLU,[18] Dylan,[19]
Haskell,[20][15] Icon,[21] Lisp,[22]
Modula-3,[14][17] Perl,[23] Standard ML[15]
Influenced
Apache Groovy, Boo, Cobra, CoffeeScript,[24] D, F#, GDScript, Go, JavaScript,[25][26] Julia,[27] Mojo,[28] Nim, Ring,[29] Ruby,[30] Swift[31]

Python is a high-level, general-purpose programming language. Its design philosophy emphasizes code readability with the use of significant indentation.[32]

Python is dynamically typed and garbage-collected. It supports multiple programming paradigms, including structured (particularly procedural), object-oriented and functional programming. It is often described as a "batteries included" language due to its comprehensive standard library.[33][34]

Guido van Rossum began working on Python in the late 1980s as a successor to the ABC programming language and first released it in 1991 as Python 0.9.0.[35] Python 2.0 was released in 2000. Python 3.0, released in 2008, was a major revision not completely backward-compatible with earlier versions. Python 2.7.18, released in 2020, was the last release of Python 2.[36]

Python consistently ranks as one of the most popular programming languages, and has gained widespread use in the machine learning community.[37][38][39][40]

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  5. ^ "PEP 11 – CPython platform support | peps.python.org". Python Enhancement Proposals (PEPs). Retrieved 22 April 2024.
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  11. ^ "Starlark Language". Archived from the original on 15 June 2020. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
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  13. ^ "Ada 83 Reference Manual (raise statement)". Archived from the original on 22 October 2019. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
  14. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference 98-interview was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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  16. ^ Cite error: The named reference AutoNT-1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  17. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference classmix was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  18. ^ Cite error: The named reference effbot-call-by-object was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  19. ^ Cite error: The named reference AutoNT-2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  20. ^ Cite error: The named reference AutoNT-3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  21. ^ Cite error: The named reference AutoNT-4 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  22. ^ Cite error: The named reference AutoNT-6 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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  24. ^ "CoffeeScript". coffeescript.org. Archived from the original on 12 June 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
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  26. ^ Rauschmayer, Axel. "Chapter 3: The Nature of JavaScript; Influences". O'Reilly, Speaking JavaScript. Archived from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  27. ^ Cite error: The named reference Julia was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  28. ^ Krill, Paul (4 May 2023). "Mojo language marries Python and MLIR for AI development". InfoWorld. Archived from the original on 5 May 2023. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  29. ^ Ring Team (4 December 2017). "Ring and other languages". ring-lang.net. ring-lang. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  30. ^ Cite error: The named reference bini was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  31. ^ Lattner, Chris (3 June 2014). "Chris Lattner's Homepage". Chris Lattner. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 3 June 2014. The Swift language is the product of tireless effort from a team of language experts, documentation gurus, compiler optimization ninjas, and an incredibly important internal dogfooding group who provided feedback to help refine and battle-test ideas. Of course, it also greatly benefited from the experiences hard-won by many other languages in the field, drawing ideas from Objective-C, Rust, Haskell, Ruby, Python, C#, CLU, and far too many others to list.
  32. ^ Cite error: The named reference AutoNT-7 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  33. ^ Cite error: The named reference About was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  34. ^ "PEP 206 – Python Advanced Library". Python.org. Archived from the original on 5 May 2021. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  35. ^ Rossum, Guido Van (20 January 2009). "The History of Python: A Brief Timeline of Python". The History of Python. Archived from the original on 5 June 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  36. ^ Peterson, Benjamin (20 April 2020). "Python 2.7.18, the last release of Python 2". Python Insider. Archived from the original on 26 April 2020. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  37. ^ "Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2022". Stack Overflow. Archived from the original on 27 June 2022. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  38. ^ "The State of Developer Ecosystem in 2020 Infographic". JetBrains: Developer Tools for Professionals and Teams. Archived from the original on 1 March 2021. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  39. ^ "TIOBE Index". TIOBE. Archived from the original on 25 February 2018. Retrieved 3 January 2023. The TIOBE Programming Community index is an indicator of the popularity of programming languages Updated as required.
  40. ^ "PYPL PopularitY of Programming Language index". pypl.github.io. Archived from the original on 14 March 2017. Retrieved 26 March 2021.