What Makes Python the Perfect Language for Software Development?

The demand for software development is rising as more people are getting digital connectivity and becoming more dependent on various forms of technology. Everything around us, from smart TV, smartphones, and car infotainment systems to office authentication systems and card readers, softwares are everywhere.

Hundreds of pieces of softwares keep running around us, of which many times we are unaware. Today almost every one of us is involved or somehow dependent on one or more softwares. This has led to a massive rise in software development demand and hence software developers. 

According to Statista, the total global software development market revenue is anticipated to reach USD 593.40 billion in 2022 and USD 812.90 billion by 2027, with an annual growth rate of 6.50%. These stats are evidence of the growing market value of software development. 

In this post, we will discuss the building blocks of any software, that is, programming languages. With time the number of programming languages available is increasing, but in the midst of this, there is one language that continues to be everyone's favorite; Python. In this post, we'll take a deeper look into Python and try to understand some of the distinctive features that make it loved by software developers of all ages. 

A Brief Overview of Python

Python, first released in 1991 by its creator Guido Van Rossum is one of the most-used programming languages around the world. According to a survey, Python was the second most-used language worldwide; almost 50.7% of respondents stated that they use it. 

Python is one of the high-level and general-purpose programming languages which today has become one of the most common languages that a software developer must know. Most of the leading applications you'll find today are written in Python, with the likes of Netflix, Youtube, Uber, Instagram, Quora, Google, and many more. 

This programming language has found itself in numerous fields along with software development, such as web development, scientific computing, big data, AI & ML, data science, web scraping, and many more. Let's dig deeper into the Python programming language and check why it is heavily popular among the software developers community.

What Makes Python the Ideal Language for Software Development?

Since its launch in 1991, Python has become the first choice for millions of developers, and the Python developers community is growing strong. The trust and popularity backing the rise of the Python language can be owed to some appealing and unique benefits it provides to software developers. Let’s look at these benefits in more detail and try to understand what makes this language loved by many.

Ease of Learning and Accessibility 

Compared to other programming languages, Python is way easier to learn due to its similarities with the English language. The best thing about Python is that even beginners, utterly new without any prior coding knowledge, can quickly learn this language in little time if done with sheer focus. 

Python syntaxes are easier to remember when compared with other programming languages. This is because most Python syntaxes are simply English words; thus, beginners with little knowledge of English can easily remember the syntaxes for the Python language.

Moreover, learning Python is cheaper and free most of the time, thanks to numerous paid and free tutorials available on youtube and educational platforms such as freeCodeCamp, Coursera, etc. As already mentioned, Python is the second most popular language and a must for programmers these days. This is the reason behind the easier availability of learning materials for Python.

Less Time to Develop the Applications

It has been seen that Python programs take much less time to be written when compared to other programming languages, such as Java. According to Python's official documentation, Python programs are 3-5 times smaller or shorter when compared to an equivalent program written in Java.

Developing Python applications is much faster because of its simpler syntaxes and rich library, making writing codebase easier for developers.

Provides In-Depth Documentation

Aside from the numerous learning materials available on various platforms, as already mentioned, the Python team provides in-depth documentation of Python in easy-to-understand words. This documentation, along with covering the basic stuff that other materials do, includes detailed notes about every version they launch and its new features. 

Works as an Excellent Glue Language

Glue language connects different components of the same application written in different programming languages. Python is considered one of the best glue languages due to its simplicity, readability, and faster code development. 

Often software consists of several mini-programs or, say, components that might be written in different programming languages. This type of software needs a glue code that can act as an interface to connect all these components so that they can function together to complete a shared task.

This glue code does not have its functionality or, say, any functional role in the software but plays the crucial role of an interface that connects all these components. 

Python is a popular glue language and has been widely used to connect various components of an application which can be written in any programming language, be it C++ or Java. 

Java and C++ have longer codes, approximately 3-5 times larger than Python programs. Hence, for creating glue code, Python is the right choice for gluing components written in different languages together. Another benefit of gluing components using Python code is that software developers with expertise in different languages can work together without learning a new programming language to complete the project. 

Python Has a Multifaceted Use

The best thing about Python that fascinates software development companies and developers is its scope of application which expands beyond software development. Python has become an essential programming language in AI and machine learning because of its simplicity and ease of learning. Moreover, Python codebases have better readability, making complex AI and ML applications simpler to understand. 

Python's extraordinary library and functionalities strongly cater to the need of data scientists, which involves a series of computations, statistics, and much more. Over time with the growth of this language, a range of Python APIs are now available that provide deep learning frameworks and related functionalities that help analyze data better and provide accurate results and forecasts. 

Similar to the ones mentioned above, Python has many more uses in various fields such as web development, game development, education, and more, making it a multipurpose programming language.

Suggested Reading: Top 10 Applications Of Python Programming Language 

A Large Community of Developers

From a survey performed from Dec 2021 to Feb 2022, it was found that Python has the second-largest developer community. In the same survey, it was reported that there are approximately 15.7 million Python developers around the world, only behind Javascript, which has a community of around 17.4 million developers, making it the most popular programming language in the world. 

These many developers together make up a strong community that makes the overall learning environment way more accessible for beginners. Those learning this language for the first time can greatly benefit from various forums hosted by the top Python developers where most of their doubts can be cleared. Moreover, even solved codes can be found on these forums that can help speed up the software development task for the developers.

Hence with such a large community of developers, the accessibility and the scope of Python are vast, thus opening doors for new opportunities for the developers.

Backed by Well-Known Conglomerates

One of the most important reasons why more and more enthusiasts want to become a Python developer is the language's popularity amongst software giants like Google, Meta, Youtube, Twitter, and many more. The knowledge of this language can help you find an excellent job in these companies and other technical fields to kickstart your career. Hence learning this language as a software developer is a profitable investment.

What Are the Top Alternatives to Python Programming Language?

Javascript, PHP, Java, and C++ are also some of the highly used software development languages used widely by developers around the world. Let’s take a brief look at these technologies with the below infographic. 

Those looking to outsource software development to Javascript and PHP developers can go through Goodtal’s list of top PHP and Javascript developers, which enlists only the trusted and best service providers.

Wrapping Up

The softwares have become an integral part of our lives, whether we are aware of its presence around us or not. Over time, the demand and necessity of softwares for various purposes is rising, but one thing is sure, the popularity of the Python programming language is not going to fade any time soon.

This language is a building block of some of the most popular and common applications we've used throughout the years, such as Google, Youtube, Instagram, and many more. In this post, we discussed the Python programming language in more detail and tried to understand the features that make it the second most used language in the world by software developers.