Python is a structured, high-level programming language with a variety of uses. It is open source, meaning that it comes for free and the source code is also available free of charge for modification and re-distribution. Python is useful for script ing and can be used for simple and easy script s as well as complex ones. It is also an object oriented language which is interpreted and is also dynamically typed.

Though Python came later than many of the similar programming languages, it delivers a lot of advantages over the others.

Developer productivity

Code for a function written in python is smaller than similar code written in another language. This helps developers type less code, and gives less work when debuging, hence increasing developer productivity. Python programs also run quickly since it is interpreted instead of going through the linking and compilation precesses done in similar languages such as C, C++ or Java.

Program portability

Python programs are platform independent and run between Window and Linux. One can copy code written in python on a Linux machine and run it on a Windows machine and vice versa without any problems. Due to the small size of python programs, it is suitable for developing web applications, database access systems, portable graphical user interfaces and many more.

Software quality

Python code is uniform and makes it easy to understand, even if written by another person. It therefore enhances code re-use. Maintaning a python software is also easy due to the language's readability and object oriented nature.

Support

Since python is open source, it has an invaluable support materials from other users. There are python forums all over the internet. Python also comes with a standard library made up of pre-defined functions. These functions support a wide range of programming tasks. It is also possible to develop your own libraries and have python extend them. Available on the internet are also third party application support software functions that can be extended in python.

Interactivity

Python can be run in the interactive mode. This is mainly for beginners or people trying out some piece of code. Programmers can see the results of their code whiles still typing the code. This makes python programming more enjoyable than other similar languages like C, C++ and Java.

Component integration

It is easy to make a python application communicate with programs written in other languages. Python comes with a lot of integration mechanisms which it uses to communicate with C or C++ Libraries and can also be called in programs written in these languages. Python programs can also communicate with Java components, COM and .NET frameworks, SOAP, XML-RPC and COBRA. It is therefore not a standalone tool.

Python is a powerful programing language, but very easy to learn. It has an effective but simple approach to object oriented programming. Python's use of whitespaces in its code makes python code readable. Python can be a good language for people starting programming.

About Author / Additional Info: