Python is the fastest-growing programming language in the world, as it increasingly becomes used in a wide range of developer job roles and data science positions across industries. But how did it become the go-to coding language for so many tasks?
"Python is very popular because of its set of robust libraries that make it such a dynamic and a fast programming language," said Kristen Sosulski, clinical associate professor of information, operations, and management sciences in the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University, and author of Data Visualization Made Simple. "It's object-oriented, and it really allows for everything from creating a website, to app development, to creating different types of data models."
Python has the best claim to being the fastest-growing major programming language right now, said Stack Overflow data scientist Julia Silge. Developer Stack Overflow visits to Python have grown very quickly, she added: This year, it became the most visited programming language in the world on the site.
The rate of growth is high across industries including academia, manufacturing, electronics, finance, energy, tech, and government, Silge said. It's not shrinking in any industry, she added.
"The rise of Python is linked to businesses understanding that they are generating all this data all the time, and if they either train people internally or hire people who have these skills, they can use that data to make better decisions, and it can help their businesses thrive," Silge said. "It's a great first programming language to learn, and also it is a center of one of the most impactful trends driving how businesses are adding value to what they're doing right now."
Here are three reasons why Python is currently dominating the programming space.
Python is consistently ranked as one of the easiest programming languages to learn, and is known for its high reliability and simple syntax, which are a draw for new coders in particular.
"Python is the closest language to what I call 'an instant gratification language,' meaning with very little code, it can accomplish so much, even if you are a novice programmer," said Karen Panetta, an IEEE Fellow and Dean of Graduate Engineering at Tufts University.
