10 Important Features Of Python That You Must Know!

Since 1843, there have been a variety of programming languages developed by programmers to solve real-world challenging problems. But does every programming language stand out in the limelight? Obviously NOT. Because it completely depends on their core features, such as approachability, flexibility, portability, responsibility, etc. In other words, the essential features of modern programming languages are taken into consideration while considering their utility.

In this article, we are going to discuss how Python - a high-level versatile programming language, has become a popular language amongst programmers. We will also discuss the features of Python and understand why this language is the preferred language of the majority of programmers.

Python At A Glance

Python was developed by Guido Van Rossum in 1991 for deploying easy to tedious operations and mathematical functions in less time. This open-source programming language has a wide array of modules, supports the concepts of classes, and a range of libraries (i.e.standard Library) to support other computer languages such as C, JSON, Java, etc. 

Python supports procedural and object-oriented programming, too. One of the key features of Python is that the lines of code are fewer compared to other computer languages. It does not require including curly braces in the source code. It does not require declaring the type of a variable as it is a dynamically typed language.

Fun Fact: Wondering why is it called Python? When Rossum began implementing Python, he was reading the published scripts from the BBC comedy series 'Monty Python's Flying Circus'. Since Van Rossum was looking for a name that was short, unique, and interesting for his programming language, he decided to name it 'Python', inspired by the comedy series.  

Key Features of Python Programming

Here are a few features of Python that make it a popular programming language in today's time. 

1. Portable Language

It is a cross-platform language. It can run on Linux, macOS, and Windows. For example, you can run the Python code for Windows in Linux or macOS, too.

2. Standard Library

It offers various modules like operators, mathematical functions, libraries such as NumPy, Pandas, Tensorflow, etc., and packages paving the way for the developers to save time to avoid re-writing the codes from scratch. To provide more functionality and packages, they also provide Python Package Index.

3. High-Level Language

It is a high-level, general-purpose programming language. Unlike machine language like C, C++, It is a human-readable language. In other words, even a layman can understand the programs.

Also Read: Difference between high-level and low-level programming languages

4. Easy to learn and use

It is easy to understand and easy to code, and anyone can learn Python within a few days. For example, a simple Python program to add two numbers is as follows:

a = 8
b = 9
print(a+b)

We have completed this program within three lines. Whereas in Java, C++ and C, it takes more lines. That is why Python is known as an easy and precise language.

5. Dynamic Language

Declaring the type of a variable is not needed. For example, let us declare an integer number 7 for a variable a. Rather than declare it as:

int a = 7 ( this is necessary for statically-typed language like C)
We declare it as
a = 7

But, the programmers have to be careful regarding runtime errors.

6. Extensible Language

Code can be used to compile in C or C++ language so that it can be utilized for our Python code. This is achieved because it converts the program to byte code.

7. Interpreted Language

Line-by-line execution of source code, converted into byte code; thus, compiling the code is not necessary, making it easy to debug if required.

8. Object-Oriented Programming Language

It supports procedural, functional, structural, and also object-oriented language such as abstraction, encapsulation, inheritance, and polymorphism which is considered important by the Python coder.

9. Free and Open-source libraries

It is a free open-source platform that can be downloaded easily from their Official Website.

10. Support is provided for Graphical User Interface

Lots of Graphical User Interface frameworks are available in Python, thus helping the software user, and it sticks to platform-specific technologies. It can be used in software development, web development, etc

Applications of Python

Python has always been a favorite programming language for programmers who start their careers in the field of Information Technology. This may be because of the advantages of Python and that it is easy to learn and apply. But there is a disclaimer. Python is a good language. But, to get mathematic logic, we request you get a good grip on programming languages like C, C++, and Java. These programming languages are tedious, but understanding their basics is important for anyone who wants to learn Python.  Here are the top five applications of Python. 

1. Web development
2. Data Analysis
3. Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Deep Learning,
4. Data Science
5. Software Development

Bonus: Interesting features of different programming languages

We hope you got a gist of the features of Python. To give you an edge, let us give you some features of other programming languages like C, C++, and Java.

Features of C

• Fast and efficient
• Procedural programming language
• Modularity
• Have rich libraries
• Statically typed programming language
• Rich built-in operators

Features of C++

• High-Level programming language
• Dynamic Memory Allocation
• Multi-threading
• Structural programming language
• Quick compilation
• Rich libraries
• Simple and extensible

Features of Java

• Platform-independent
• Object-oriented programming language
• Portable
• Multi-threading
• Dynamic programming language
• Robust

Summing up...

Adding to the features, Python has the coolest feature, i.e., the Community of Developers is able to utilize the community support if any doubt pops into their minds. Python is being improvised by many users of Stack Overflow, etc.

The growth of Python for Machine learning is phenomenal. The dependability on Python has only increased with time. Thus, it becomes necessary for students to have real-world Python skills to grow their careers. 

FAQs regarding Python

Q1. What are the key features of Python?

Three key features of Python are:

• Easy to learn and use: Python is simpler to learn and use than other programming languages like C, C++, and Java. It has a plain-defined syntax, a few simple keywords, and a simple structure.
• Interpreted language: Python is an interpreted language, which means that the code is run line by line. This makes it simpler to test and debug.
• Dynamically typed language: Because Python is a dynamically typed language, we don't need to define the type of a variable.

Q2. How is memory managed in Python?

The memory allocation and deallocation processes are handled automatically by Python. All Python objects and data structures are kept in a private heap maintained by the Python memory management. Different parts of the Python memory manager deal with various elements of dynamic storage management, such as sharing, segmentation, preallocation, or caching. Python employs a garbage collector to release memory that is no longer required by the program automatically.

Q3. What are Python modules?

A file including Python definitions and instructions is known as a module in the programming language. Classes, functions, and variables can all be defined in a module. Runnable code may also be a part of it. The code is made simpler to comprehend and use by bundling similar functionality into a module. Furthermore, it organizes the code rationally. When referencing code in other classes or Python scripts, Python modules assist in organizing the code.

Q4. What is PEP 8?

The PEP 8 paper offers recommendations and best practices for writing Python code. Guido van Rossum, Barry Warsaw, and Nick Coghlan wrote it in 2001. PEP 8's main objective is to make Python code more readable and consistent. PEP 8 offers a collection of guidelines and suggestions for Python code's naming conventions, code organization, comments, and other features.

Q5. How is Python an interpreted language?

As an interpreted language, Python converts a program's source code into bytecode, which the Python virtual machine (PVM) subsequently executes.The compilation part is done first when we execute our code, and this generates bytecode that gets converted by the PVM according to the underlying platform (machine+operating system) .Python is not compiled into machine code like C or C++, but rather it is interpreted by the PVM. The PVM reads the bytecode generated by the compilation step and executes it line by line. The PVM is responsible for interpreting the bytecode and executing the Python code.

Q6. What are the control structures in Python?

Control structures are an essential part of programming that allows you to specify the flow of execution in your code. In Python, there are several types of control structures, including conditions, loops, and function calls. Conditions are used to make decisions based on the value of a variable or expression. The if, elif, and else statements are used for conditional execution. A chunk of code is continuously run using loops. The two types of loops in Python are - for loops and while loops.

We hope you found the article informative. Here are more articles you may be interested in:

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3. What is Flow Control in Computer Networks?
4. Demystifying the Difference Between Multiplexer And Demultiplexer