Where did it originate?

Python was created by Monty Python enthusiast Guido van Rossum in 1991.

What's it for?

As a web development language Python has evolved from writing basic CGI scripts to having its own web application frameworks, such as Django and TurboGears, as well as the open source web application server Zope, and the Plone content management system.

Developers can use the Komodo IDE, or the PyDev IDE plug-in for the IBM-backed Eclipse platform - which includes support for the pure Java implementation, Jython. There's also the Wing IDE, which was developed for Python. The standard library has many modules for web applications, Gui development and testing.

Python has interfaces to open source databases like MySQL, and commercial products like SQL Server and Oracle.

What makes it special?

Like Perl with CPAN, and the Ruby Application Archive, Python has its own third party application repository. The Python Package Index currently includes around 3,500 modules, about half of them for system management and software development, but with office and business software, and over 200 scientific and engineering applications.

How difficult is it to master?

Based partly on ABC, a language developed to help novice developers, Python was subsequently involved in initiatives to make programming more accessible, and its simple syntax reflects this.

Where is it used?

Python is shipped with all major Linux distributions. Python users include YouTube, Google, Industrial Light and Magic and AstraZeneca. Several City firms use Python.

What systems does it run on?

Windows, Linux/Unix, Mac OS X, OS/2, Amiga, PalmOS and Nokia mobile phones. For .Net developers, there's IronPython.

What's coming up?

Python 3.0 is intended to fix all the flaws and inconsistencies in the language. Scheduled for August this year, it will not be entirely backward compatible, but is expected to co-exist with Python 2.x for many years.

This article was copied from the ZEA Partnerwebsite, and can be found here