Python Programming: A Beginner’s Guide
Tags: beginners, programming, python, career
Published: 2020-07-17 06:03:00

Python is an interpreted, high-level, powerful general-purpose programming language.

You may ask, Python’s a snake right? and Why is this programming language named after it?

Well, you are in the right place to discover it! and I’ll also answer the Why? What? How? Questions on Python programming.

![Image "Python" as the Text](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/a5ir2ad2qbfysc5m0qak.png)

## Why do we need to know about Python?

**People prefer Python over French (What!😮)**
According to a recent survey, in the UK, Python overtook French to be the most popular language taught in primary schools. (OMG!)
6 of 10 parents preferred their children to learn Python over French.

![Teenage Boy coding with a keyboard with matrix graphics in backgorund](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/hzcahgnc3yfqoi8in6os.jpeg)

So hurry up🏃‍♂️🏃‍♀️(or these kids will for sure)! get ready to learn it! coz there’s a possibility of you being hired by one of the companies mentioned below!!!

## Big Companies🏢 are using Python

NASA, Google, Nokia, IBM, Yahoo!,
Google Maps, edX,
Walt Disney Feature Animation, Facebook,
Netflix, Expedia, Reddit, Quora, MIT,
Disqus, Hike, Spotify, Udemy, Shutterstock,
Uber, Amazon, Mozilla, Dropbox,
Pinterest, YouTube and many more…

![Collage of companies who use Python Programming for their software products](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/1ztr67mcytbzm8pg6ttm.png)

## Applications of Python in the real world🗺

> Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
> Data Science
> Web Development
> Automation/Testing
> Scripting
> Web Scraping
> and many more…

![Google Trends Graph that depicts upward growth of popularity for "Python" web search](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/r0qyrtw83u6wsqj6ciy9.png)

## What is Python?

### Some History and Why the name ‘Python’?

Let’s start a Flashback tale (Trust me it’s interesting😉).

Python was created by a guy named Guido van Rossum.

Guido Van Rossum was looking for a hobby project to keep him occupied in the week around Christmas.

He chose to call it Python, coz Guido himself is a big fan of Monty Python’s Flying Circus (Popular British comedy troupe).

So rather than being in an irrelevant mood he named the project ‘Python’.

![Picture of Guido van Rossum](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/lt9338lakusoj254a6an.jpeg)

Hence the name Python was adopted. Well, this resulted in you reading my Blog(Hahaha!), but here’s a fact (Are you ready to be stunned?)

Python influenced Javascript and 8 other languages to be designed,
-> C, Java, Perl, AWK, HyperTalk, Lua, Scheme and Self.

😮Yes, you read it right!!, Python has influenced all these languages to be either designed or updated after it.

## What do you need to know about Python?

Well, now you may wonder if Python is something worthwhile to know isn’t!

👇Here’s Bite-sized info to offer you basic points on the features of Python programming language. (Apologies for my Handwriting!😅).

![Handwritten Python Programming Worksheet that includes the properties of the language](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/5luehsaej1xvapvm3cv4.jpeg)

## Python Ecosystem

Python is a favourite choice for programming when it comes to Machine Learning, Deep Learning or even Web Development.

The ecosystem grows a lot day by day with libraries and frameworks(some of the most used ones are mentioned in this sketch right down below 👇!).

### Let me list these out with its functionalities:-

Machine Learning/Data Science: Pandas(Data Analysis), NumPy, SciPy (Mathematical and scientific computation), MatPlotLib (Plotting), Scikit-learn, Tensorflow, PyTorch(Machine Learning/Deep Learning libraries).

Jupyter Notebook: Developer Environment

Web Development: Flask(Micro Web Framework), Django(Multi-level Web Framework).

![Handwritten Python Programming Ecosystem that includes popular Python libraries and frameworks](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/upugyjaleerc0eogxbeh.jpeg)

## How and Where Should You Start Learning?

### Certification Courses:-

- **[Complete Python Developer: Zero to Mastery course](https://academy.zerotomastery.io/a/aff_9khypm7v/external?affcode=441520_dcwk-s8s)**
  - I have been learning Python this year from an awesome Instructor, Andrei Neagoie (a Senior Developer) and he also has created an academy - [Zero to Mastery (ZTM)](https://academy.zerotomastery.io/a/aff_11ppt4cw/external?affcode=441520_dcwk-s8s).
  - [ZTM](https://academy.zerotomastery.io/a/aff_11ppt4cw/external?affcode=441520_dcwk-s8s) is a platform with courses touching the topics like Web Development, Machine Learning, JavaScript, Deno and much more so check it out if you’re interested: [zerotomastery.io](https://academy.zerotomastery.io/a/aff_11ppt4cw/external?affcode=441520_dcwk-s8s)
- **[Coursera — Crash course on Python](https://www.coursera.org/learn/python-crash-course?specialization=google-it-automation)**
  - It is the first course of 6 part course series from the Professional Certification course — Google IT Automation with Python Professional Certificate, offered by Google.
  - You can audit the courses to try out for free.

### Free to Use:-

- **[Python Official Documentation](https://www.python.org/doc/)**: You can always learn from and refer to, the Official documentation of Python, it’s always free.
- **[Python Tutorial for Beginners](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsyeobzWxl7poL9JTVyndKe62ieoN-MZ3)**: Check out this YouTube tutorial on Python for Beginners by Telusko Channel.
- **[FreeCodeCamp](https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/best-python-tutorial/)**: It’s a good website that provides lots of resources on Python Tutorials.

### Bonus Section

Are you interested to know more about Python in-depth?

- [**Python Blog Series**](https://dev.to/aswin2001barath/series/10416): A Blog series where I will be learning and sharing my knowledge of the Python Programming Language.
- [**Learn Python for Free, Get Hired, and (maybe) Change the World!**](https://academy.zerotomastery.io/a/aff_tz1t0tpx/external?affcode=441520_dcwk-s8s): A detailed roadmap blog by Jayson Lennon (a Senior Software Engineer) with links to free resources.
- To learn more in-depth about Python (right now), check out this Playlist 👉 by Andrei Neagoie on — [**Become a Python Developer**](https://youtu.be/54ILmXAHC0M?list=PL2HX_yT71umCoQEFRTTFxGMlzxPjytcKi)
- Do you want to become a Python Developer and work on Real-life applications? Check out this YouTube video 👉 [**The Real Python Developer Roadmap**](https://youtu.be/d5BzuLlII_Y).
  - It’s a long video but hang in there.
  - It’s a really great video about what to learn in Python Programming and career options. (Trust me on this too😉)

**Who Am I?**

I’m Aswin Barath, a Software Engineering Nerd who loves building Web Applications, now sharing my knowledge through [Blogging](https://medium.com/techsoftware) during the busy time of my freelancing work life. Here’s the link to all of my socials categorized by platforms under one place: https://linktr.ee/AswinBarath

**Thank you** so much for reading my blog🙂.

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If someone like me asked you this question now: "What is Python Programming Language?", Can you answer it?

Let me know your answer to this question in the comment section.