Python is a high-level, general-purpose programming language. That's the textbook line [Source 1]. The interesting part is what it emphasizes: code readability, simplicity, and ease of writing [Source 1]. If you've ever stared at a wall of curly braces and semicolons and wondered why, Python is the language built around the opposite instinct.
What makes it Python
A few traits define the language [Source 1]:
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Significant indentation. Whitespace isn't decorative. The way you indent a block is the block. No braces.
"Plain English" naming. Keywords and standard library names read close to how you'd describe the thing out loud.
Batteries-included standard library. You get a lot out of the box, from HTTP clients to JSON parsing to math.
Garbage collection. You don't manage memory by hand. The runtime cleans up after you.
Multiple paradigms. It supports several styles, with an emphasis on object-oriented programming.
Dynamic typing. Variables don't have fixed types. Values do, and types are checked as the program runs.
A tiny example to make the indentation point concrete:
def greet(name):
if name:
print(f"hi, {name}")
else:
print("hi")
greet("Alex")
No braces, no semicolons. The indent under def and if is the structure.
Glossary of terms used above
High-level language. A language that abstracts away hardware details like registers and memory addresses, so you write logic instead of machine instructions [Source 1].
General-purpose. Not tied to one domain. You can write a web backend, a script, a data pipeline, or a game in it [Source 1].
Paradigm. A style of organizing code. Object-oriented programming (grouping data and behavior into objects) is the one Python leans on most, though it supports others [Source 1].
Dynamic typing. Types belong to values at runtime, not to variable declarations. x = 1 then x = "hello" is legal [Source 1].
Garbage collection. The runtime automatically reclaims memory you're no longer using [Source 1].
Standard library. The set of modules shipped with the language itself, no install needed [Source 1].
Where Python runs
Mostly: laptops, servers, and the cloud. But Python shows up in stranger places too. Researchers have built ePython, a subset of Python for the Epiphany many-core coprocessor, a low-power chip aimed at HPC education and prototyping [Source 3]. The Epiphany has very limited on-chip memory per core, so ePython ships a new interpreter designed around that constraint [Source 3]. The takeaway isn't that you'll write Python for exotic chips tomorrow. It's that the language is portable and small enough that people keep porting it.
Why people pick it
Readability is the headline feature [Source 1]. The standard library means you can do real work on day one [Source 1]. Dynamic typing and garbage collection cut the ceremony [Source 1]. You trade some runtime speed for a lot of human speed, and for most jobs that's the right trade.
If you're starting out, start here. The language was designed to get out of your way.
