History of Python
—
Just imagine the time of the 70s, and today we have computers all around us.
Do you know that the world’s first website was created in 1991? And after that, this cycle continued like this. And, only after the arrival of the website, the computer reaches every house. Because only then can we create something which can be kept on the internet and people can use it. Whether anyone wants information from the shopping website or any business, it is available on the internet. But, this is the time in the early 90s.
If we talk about the 70s, the first integrated circuit was developed in 1971. And the size of the computer had decreased dramatically. Earlier, the CPU or Central Processing Unit take a lot of space. But since integrated circuits were invented, the computer’s size has significantly decreased. Because now, the capabilities of that CPU are in a small chip, which is known as Processor.
Think back to the 70s when this era was something like this, the everyday things we see today were unavailable.
In that era, C and C++ languages were made. But, when it was made then, the requirements and expectations of that time from a programming language would have been different in that era.
Because in the 70s, the website was not available. And all the work happening today, such as mobile application development, website development, or the development of things related to artificial intelligence, was missing in that era.
So, the features in the languages like C and C++ are according to that time.
But C and C++ language is so close to the hardware that we can create anything in it. But the modern era requires you to develop a website, build an AI-based program, or do data visualization. If you think of doing these all using C or C++, you must work very hard.
That is why, after looking for the requirement of a new language in the era of the 90s. The creation of a new type of programming language has been started. You should not be surprised to know that in the early 90s the, languages like Python, Java, Javascript, PHP, and C# has also been made.
So, this was the period when the internet was flourishing because of the website. So you will see that many of these languages, like Python, Java, PHP, and JavaScript, have many similarities.
—
So how did Python’s thoughts come?
A Dutch programmer named Guido Van Rossum created the Python language. He thought of the concept of Python in the 80s. And he had decided that such a language should be made. At that time, he used to work at Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica in the Netherland as a successor of the ABC language.
It means how a language is made, what is the feature in a language, he very closely observed it. Because he was the one who did his coding, he is also given credit for creating the ABC language. But the people who decided what should and should not be in the ABC language were others.
He just implemented it, and when he was implementing it, he didn’t like some things in the ABC language.
Like code in ABC language were written in capital letters. And he thought of a problem for programmers in switching between capital and small letters.
There was no library concept in the ABC language. So you can use only what is already in it. So, it was not an extensible language, and the capabilities of that language could not be increased.
There were many other things that Guido Van Rossum did not like about ABC language, and he felt that it should be changed. However, there were some things that he also liked about the ABC language, which is that it is easy.
Now, in that era, programmers were genius people. Because in that era, coding was a difficult task that not everyone could do. So at that time, it was thought that why not even those people could use computers who were a little intelligent but not technical. That is why languages like ABC were created, and now every intelligent person can create software according to their need and use it.
So, to fulfill the deficiency of the ABC language, Guido Van Rossum created a new language called Python. In 1989, the language began to form, December was the month of Christmas, and the people who worked in the research lab were now on vacation. But, Guido Van Rossum were there.
He was asked to write a script for the Amoeba operating system, which would automate certain things. But, he decided to work on his project, which would also be helpful for the Amoeba operating system. And there, he was able to create the Python language in just two weeks.
Later, Guido Van Rossum has been invariably worked as the lead developer in companies like Google and Dropbox, where he uplifted Python. And whatever had to be done for the growth of Python language, he used to do, until 12 July 2018.
In January 2019, active Python core developers were elected. Now, a five-member council will lead the project. Work on Python is still going on, many people are using it, but Guido Van Rossum has taken permanent retirement after 2018.
—
Version History
- Python 1.0 – 1994
- Python 2.0 – 2000
- Python 3.0 – 2008 (Doesn’t support backward compatibility)
- Python 3.10.7 – 6 September 2022 (Latest Version)
Note: – To check more versions, you can visit Python official Website.
—
Why the name Python?
Python developers aim for it to be fun to use. The name ‘Python’ is a tribute to the British comedy group The complete Monty Python’s Flying Circus.
—
Why Should You Learn Python?
1. Huge Community Support
Because Python is an old programming language, its community support is huge. So, if we face any programming problem, we can find its solution anywhere on the internet as some persons might have faced similar issues/errors.
2. The future is with AI
As we know, our future is related to Artificial Intelligence, so languages like Python can be used a lot in terms of computational power and memory management. Also, there are libraries available in Python for AI-based development.
3. Easy to learn and Implement
Learning Python programming language is relatively easier and more accessible than other programming languages. Thus, its implementation is also easier.
4. General Purpose Programming Language
This is also one of the reasons you should learn Python because you can make many types of software in Python. You can perform task automation efficiently in Python. You can also create a website, mobile/desktop/console application, games, etc. So, just read this one language, and you will understand how to do all the work.