[xdude]

I don't know how many members here use Python or have learned the language but I have been studying it for a while now. I made a topic about Python Editors while ago and it got quite a bit of response. I thought to start a separate discussion about Python as a language, capabilities, cons and it's future. This language has been around for about 25 years and it has come a long way from what it used to be. Today there are high-end Python developers and for those who specialized in various frameworks. I used to be a die-hard fan of PHP and still, I'm. It has come a long way too but as a language but, I feel like It's slowly reaching its limit. Same time Python is spreading into fields that early Python developers wouldn't even dream out.

We all know people slowly drifting away from Desktops and Laptops to mobile devices. So Moblie Apps going to dominate the known future. The bigger websites will become apps to get better control and performance over the devices. Now one problem with apps is today you need to make different apps for iOS and Android. There are cross-platform frameworks but when you are doing a high-level app still developers do it separately. Python has 2 of its own frameworks which are getting better day by day. These are called Kivy and BeeWare.

The reason I have started studying Python is its ability to get things done easily and it's versatile. Right now I'm looking at social media automation and Moblie App development using Pythons.  There are better methods to do these but then I have to study different things about each. I prefer learning one and use it for all.

There are 2 things people complain about Python. Especially by those non-Python developers. It's age and speed. Yes, it's a 25 years old language so they didn't plan for things like Moblie Apps those days when they mapping the language. But it's a language which gets better. Now the speed is a complicated thing. If you just purely look at benchmarks few other C family languages will show better speed. But in really 95% cases Python wouldn't show a speed problem.  Speed might be a problem is really high-level machine learning and image processing projects. But for something that level people often use very very specialized tools.

Today there are new languages that might give Python a run for its money. For example, I heard Rust is really good and might surpass Python in the future. Also these other languages like Julia and Go.

So anyway how many of you here use Python and for what you guys use it?

What are the pros and cons you have experienced with the language?

What do you think future hold for Python?


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[Sn1F3rt]

Well ... well ... well, I dunno how did I miss this thread, it's lying for four months without a single reply. Thanks @xdude for this thread, it can serve for a good discussion and I'll begin it.

So to start Python is a powerful and dynamic object-oriented programming language. Some saw it's "loose on syntax" .. NO, that's the wrong term to use. Python is not "loose", but it's "lucid" as far as the syntax goes. One thing people fail to understand that a language can't be all about professionals. We've to think about the society at large. One of the greatest advantages of Python is that it is beginner-friendly, that is easy to understand and implement.

Python is an interpreted language, not compiled unlike most others. However, this also means that Python compiled files are generated in situ, which is much more dynamic. I feel this article has a fair view of the difference between the two sets : https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/compil...languages/

Well their are tons of pros of Python I can speak about. I use it for all of my projects. From backend to frontend, to proxies, Python can achieve almost anything doable via programming. Best part is Python is cross-platform. You've correctly mentioned about Kivi, it's the best Python framework for mobile development, and highly scalable.

About speed, well it only takes a fraction of a seconds difference to have the compiled code cached, and then the speed of compiled vs. interpreted is equivalent.

The only con of Python, well since I'm to mention is that there's no incrementation operator as such. For example, "i++" isn't a thing in Python, it's only "i+=1". But I feel that's fine, as the core objective behind Python was to keep things simple and straightforward.

Python is a highly versatile language, and lots of potential. I'd especially highlight AI and ML development in Python, it's flourishing these days due to the infinite possibilities, the language has to offer.

I'd highly recommend anyone to go for Python, it's future is definitely bright!

[xdude]

Thanks for reviving the topic @sohamb03. Even I had forgotten about it. Not to get a single reply/post in the thread, I guess there aren't many real Python users here. I think python is the best language when it comes to general-purpose languages or at least one of those. I think readability is one of the best pros about the language. Very easy to understand even for a none Python coder. That makes it easy to learn too. Plus you can do things in few lines of code compared to many other languages.

I think Python is the second time i got all romantic with a programming language after PHP. Till PHP 7, Python pages were faster than PHP pages. PHP is a language made for server side scripting and dynamic web pages. It was not fair a general-purpose language which is 10 years older beating PHP in it's own game.

Python has a really high demand since it's a language which you can say Jack of all trades. But it also sometimes work against it when you talk about a specific field. Python can do Mobile App development with couple of it's framworks but people do complain these are not upto level Mobile App development specific language. But that's normal. It's not a language which is made for this.

[tbelldesignco]

I have just started to learn about Python, a new opportunity that has presented itself a teammate uses Python is very skilled in the language so I have been taking the time to add it to my coding skillset. One thing I have been learning about is using Python to create a CDN (Content Delivery Network) of sorts to parse JSON from websites quicker to be used by Swift and Kotlin apps. Though I am very very new to it, it seems to have a similar structure to PHP with some of the mechanics I am already familiar with on the Swift platform.

[LightDestory]

I don't think at all, Python is just a language to do fast prototypes... it sucks on performance!
Language such C,C++,Java have a STRONG base and they can perform much better then Python is used properly.

But let's speak seriosly: A language that can be used everywhere doesn't exists, every language as a strong point and weak point. A programmer should be able to decide on which language use when starting a new project.

[tryp4vps]

I guess it may be a bit too optimistic to say Python is the Future. There are quite some better choices out there.

But after all, it is a programming language with a long history. And being able to exist for such a long period of time, I believe Python, at least, will not die in a foreseeable future.

In particular, I think Python is very useful for open-source projects because that would allow many average-level programmers to participate.

[Sn1F3rt]

Yeah I tend to agree kinda, you're right @xdude Python was never meant for mobile app development. It's due to the generosity of contributors that it has all the frameworks integrated into it's core. I'd again like to highlight Kivy, it's a really awesome framework I've used it myself when I had to make an app with a team, it's just awesome. At least since Python is my stronghold it's much easier to work with than something like Dart or Kotlin, where you can't touch the code without knowing the language to it's core.

@LightDestory, I'd say that's true as long as the interpreted vs. compiled difference exists. Once Python files gets compiled performance is at par. Been a Java Dev myself a couple years ago, I'd say it has pretty much equal performance. In fact, I had written an API in Java, which I later translated to Python, the response times of the binaries were at par. (Just maybe a couple milisec difference, but that's both sided on various test runs)

But yeah you're correct, it's upto each individual to choose what he's comfortable with and act accordingly.

[xdude]

@LightDestory

You can't compare Python with C,C++ and Java performance wise since these are totally different types of programs. I have used all these 4 languages so I can relate. I hated c and c++ but liked Java. C,C++ are complied languages so these are clear winners when it comes to speed. Java, in core also a complied language. Because code is translated to byte code at compile time and not runtime. It also should be faster than Python. Python is an interpreted language. But that doesn't mean those languages perform better. Plus building prototypes is not Python is for.

Python is mainly used for Machine Learning, Data Science and automation etc. Other 3 languages you mentioned are not exactly best for these things even thought can be used. And Python is good with Dynamic Web pages. We don't use C, C++ for that. And Java is not so great for that either. JSP is terribly slow. There are many other stuff like that. But also C,C++ based languages are great for Game Development etc because of complied languages give u more speed once the program is loaded. Also because work closer to hardware.

But do agree that choosing a language is depends on the task on hand.

[LightDestory]

@LightDestory

You can't compare Python with C,C++ and Java performance wise since these are totally different types of programs. I have used all these 4 languages so I can relate. I hated c and c++ but liked Java. C,C++ are complied languages so these are clear winners when it comes to speed. Java, in core also a complied language. Because code is translated to byte code at compile time and not runtime. It also should be faster than Python. Python is an interpreted language. But that doesn't mean those languages perform better. Plus building prototypes is not Python is for.

Python is mainly used for Machine Learning, Data Science and automation etc. Other 3 languages you mentioned are not exactly best for these things even thought can be used. And Python is good with Dynamic Web pages. We don't use C, C++ for that. And Java is not so great for that either. JSP is terribly slow. There are many other stuff like that. But also C,C++ based languages are great for Game Development etc because of complied languages give u more speed once the program is loaded. Also because work closer to hardware.

But do agree that choosing a language is depends on the task on hand.

I just wanted to say that Python isn't the "future" because it can't be used on every user-case

I know that Py is used on machine learning because I am going to use TensorFlow very soon!

[xdude]

@LightDestory

I understand what you saying but what I'm saying is Python as a general-purpose language adapt and grow faster than any other language in same category. It's growing fast when it comes to every trending programming field today like data science, Machine learning, Web Development, Mobile development etc. Even at game development. This is why it is rated top as the language which has the biggest demand as to IEEE Spectrum in last 3 years. This is why I saw it has better future than other old general purpose languages.

Languages like C or C++ languages won't die anytime soon but these have hard time adaption to new things. Even Java has this problem even thought it's the second language which has a highest demand.