National Technical University of
Ukraine "KPI"
Python programming
language features
Python is probably one of the
few programming languages, simple to use and powerful at the same time. It is
very important for beginners and experts, but more importantly – on it a
pleasure to program. You will be pleasantly surprised at how easy it is to
focus on solving the problem rather than the syntax and structure of the
language in which you are programming.
Officially Python are as
follows:
Python – it's easy to use and
powerful programming language. It provides an effective high-level data
structure, and a simple but effective approach to object-oriented programming.
Its elegant syntax and dynamic typing, together with the fact that it is
interpreted, make it an ideal language for scripting and rapid application
development in various fields and on most platforms [1].
Further,
these features are presented in more detail.
Plain. Python – simple and
minimalistic language. Reading a good Python program is very similar to the
reading of the English text, although quite strict! This pseudo-code nature of
Python is one of its greatest strengths. It allows you to focus on solving the
problem rather than the language itself.
Easy to learn. As you will see,
Python is extremely easy to start programming. Python is exceptionally simple
syntax, as already mentioned above.
Free and open. Python – is an example of free and Open Source Software – FLOSS
(Free / Libré and Open Source Software). Simply put, you have the right
to freely distribute copies of this software, read its source code, make
changes and use pieces of it in their programs. At the core of free software is
the idea of community, which shares his knowledge. This is one of
the reasons why Python is so good: it was created and is constantly improved
community that just wants to make it better.
High-level language. Due to its
open nature, Python has been ported to many platforms (ie, modified so as to
work for them). All of your programs will run on any of these platforms without
any changes unless you avoid the use of system-dependent functions. Python can
use GNU / Linux, Windows, FreeBSD, Macintosh, Solaris, OS / 2, Amiga, AROS, AS
/ 400, BeOS, OS / 390, z / OS, Palm OS, QNX, VMS, Psion, Acorn RISC OS,
VxWorks, PlayStation, Sharp Zaurus, Windows CE and even PocketPC! You can even
use this platform as Kivy to create games for iOS (iPhone, iPad) and Android
[2].
Object-oriented. Python supports
procedure-oriented and object-oriented programming. The procedure-oriented
languages, the program built on the basis of procedures or functions that are
simply reusable pieces of programs. In object-oriented programming languages,
programs are based on objects that combine data and functionality. Python provides
a simple but powerful tool for OOP, especially when compared to such great
programming languages like C ++ or Java.
Extensive library. Python
Standard Library is huge. It can help in solving the most various problems
associated with the use of regular expressions, documentation generation,
checking, code blocks, parallelization of processes, databases, web browsers,
CGI, FTP, email, XML, XML-RPC, HTML, WAV-files, cryptography, GUI (graphical
user interface) and other system-dependent stuff. Remember that all this is
available absolutely everywhere installed Python. This Python philosophy is
"All Inclusive".
Interpreted.
A program written in a compiled programming language such as C or C ++, is
converted from the source language (ie C or C ++) in a language understood by
the computer (binary code ie ones and zeros) using a compiler with various
flags and parameters. When you run a program, the linker / loader software
copies from disk to memory and starts it. Python, in contrast, does not require
compilation into a binary code. The program is simply executed from the
original text. Python itself converts the source code into an intermediate form
called bytecode, then translates it into machine language and executes.
Everything is much easier to use Python because there is no need to worry about
compiling the program, connect and download the necessary libraries, etc. At
the same time, it makes Python programs much more portable, as they quite
simply be copied to another computer, and they work [3].
Conclusion.
Python is a very exciting and powerful language. It
has a good balance of performance and features that makes writing programs on
it at the same time interesting and easy.
References:
1. A Byte of Python — Swaroop C.H. Press
Monograph 2013. - 160 p.
2. Machine Learning in Python — Bowles M. Wiley
2014. - 361 p.
3. Black Hat Python — Seitz J. No Starch Press 2014. - 190 p.