The Friendly Snake: Why Python is the Coolest 🐍

A Beginner-Friendly Coding Adventure 🚀

Python is among the top five popular programming language in the world, and for good reason! With its simple and beginner-friendly syntax, it’s like coding for dummies (but in a good way 😉). That’s probably why C++ programmers hate it so much they’re just jealous of how easy Python makes things 😁!

But don’t let the simplicity fool you – Python is the language of choice for artificial intelligence and machine learning. It’s also heavily used in scripting, automation, and backend development. And with its massive ecosystem of third-party libraries like NumPy, pandas, scikit-learn, TensorFlow, Django, and Kivy, you can do pretty much anything with Python!

Now, let’s get to the fun stuff. Did you know Python is 33 years old? It was created by a Dutch programmer in 1991 and named after the iconic British comedy Monty Python. How cool is that? 🤯

Python is an interpreted language, which means you can run your code without the compilation step. But don’t worry, you’ll still need an interpreter (written in C for performance, of course).
And here’s where things get really interesting: Python has hidden gems! You can import this for the Zen of Python or

__import__("antigravity")

for a fun surprise. Trust me, you’ll want to try it out. 😉

In Python, you can declare variables with a name and a value that can be a string, a boolean, or a number. And since it’s dynamically typed, the variable’s type is determined at runtime. This means you can add or even multiply strings and numbers! Mind = blown 🤯
Python has four types of collections: lists, tuples, sets, and dictionaries. And unlike many languages, you can use negative indices to count backwards. Fancy, right?

To define a function, you use the def keyword, and to declare a block of code, you don’t need curly braces (take that, C++!). Python also supports object-oriented programming, so you can define classes using the class keyword and have them inherit from each other.
Python comes with “batteries included” – a huge library of built-in modules for tasks like working with CSV files, JSON, emails, web scraping, and more. It’s like having a Swiss Army knife for coding!

If you’re wondering how to start learning Python, I personally started with the book ” Think Python 2e: How To Think Like a Computer Scientist ” It’s a great way to get your feet wet and think like a true Pythonista. You can get a free copy of the book here: Green Tea Press Free books by Allen B. Downey

Conclusion:

Whether you’re a complete beginner or an experienced coder looking to try something new, Python is the way to go. With its friendly syntax, powerful libraries, and vibrant community, it’s no wonder Python has slithered its way into the hearts of programmers worldwide. So why not join the Python party and see what all the hype is about? Trust me, you won’t be disappointed! 🎉