Python versions history
Python has been around for over three decades with Python 3.0 lauching in Dec 2008 and Python 2.7 lauching in Jul 2010. These version have been the most poular till date.
Python programming key features
1. Python is simple and powerful
Since its beginning python inventors focused on simple and readable, English-like code. At the same time, a vast set of libraries and an ever-growing python community make python a powerful programming language.
2. Python is interactive
Like any other language, we can give code instructions to python for data input, processing, and output. Python uses *.py file as normal mode and also features an interactive mode with '>>>' symbol for quick code interpretation.
3. Python is interpreted
Due to its line-by-line interpretation of code, it is also known as an interpreted language. Python also offers dynamic typing like other interpreted languages. Python first code is first compiled to *.pyc which is then interpreted by Python Virtual Machine (PVM).
4. Python is object-oriented
Python offers class structures and object-oriented benefits like Inheritance, Overriding, Overloading, etc. Python code need not be written with classes always but python is object-oriented since the beginning.
5. Python is an easy open-source
All the greatness of python will never cost you anything, thanks to Python Software Foundation.
6. Portable or cross-platform language
Python can run equally on different platforms such as Windows, Linux, Unix, and Macintosh, etc. So, we can say that Python is a portable language.
7. Extensible and integrated
It implies that other languages such as C/C++ can be used to compile the code and thus it can be used further in our python code. It can be easily integrated with languages like C, C++, JAVA, etc.
8. Readable and case-sensitive
A lot of emphases is given to the readability of Python code. Use of indent, limited to no use of; are the steps in this regard. Python is also case-sensitive and the same word in different cases are treated as different objects.
9. Implicitly defined
No data type declaration is required while making variable assignments. It is automatically and internally understood by python, thus it is an implicitly defined language unlike C, Java, etc.
10. Dynamically typed
Since python is implicitly defined a positional argument in python need not statically bind to any data type and hence we can change its value every time we call it. In the below example x and y are dynamically typed.