Why learn Python, anyway?

There are a lot of languages out there...

...some are designed for beginners, and prioritise readability and fast learning (like Scratch); others are designed for high-level, super-fast code at the expense of human-understandability.

So why did we, a team of scientists all studying at the high graduate level, choose Python to do our work?

It's everyone's favourite!

Python has been the favourite programming language for many, many years (according to Twitter at least).

Even though it's been around since 1991, Python's popularity just keeps growing! And there's a bunch of reasons why Python's used so much!

Here are just 5 reason (of many!) we choose to use Python:

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1. User-friendliness

Compared to a lot of programming languages, Python was designed to be easy to read and easy to learn - this means you can spend less time learning how the language works, and more time actually writing code. When Python was made, the developers wanted it to be fun, fast, and engaging. Just how fun, you ask? Well, the name Python originally came from the British skit group, Monty Python, so you know you're going to have a blast working with it!

2. High-level language

Python is a high-level language - this means that when you run code, the computer does a lot of interpretation for you. At the end of the day, the computer is a physical machine that uses binary (0s and 1s) to execute functions. Low-level languages are 'closer' to the binary that the computer understands, while high-level languages need more steps of interpretation before the computer knows how to execute the code.

In practical terms, this means that reading and writing Python is a lot like reading and writing English (well, maybe English that an alien might come up with...)

3. Flexibility

Python is used by data scientists, economists, computer gurus, database managers, web developers, geospatial analysts, app developers, image processors, game-makers...and the list goes on. Python is a very flexible language, and can be used to solve all kinds of programming challenges.

Plus, there are a ton of packages that have been created by Python-istas that are constantly updated and uploaded for free use online. Chances are good that if you have a programming problem, someone else has made steps to solve it (and maybe even gave the world a nice package full of helpful functions to work with!)

4. Useful errors

As much as we hate to admit it, we all make mistakes sometimes. Well, I do at least, and luckily for my over-caffeinated-over-worked brain, Python's error messages are helpful - they explain the problem that arose AND point to the part of the code where it happened! Debugging is inevitable, but Python makes it a lot less painful.

5. Active online community

Even if error messages don't help you debug your code, the internet is full of awesome resources to help beginners sort out their bugs and errors. In a lot of cases, just Googling your errors can help show what exactly is going wrong, and give you ideas on how to start fixing the bugs in your code it.

But what if Google can't help?

One of the best features of Python is that it is open source, which means that you can download the language for free and there isn't a central company that keeps the language alive. Compared to something like Microsoft Office - which would disappear if Microsoft went out of business - Python code is for the people, maintained by the people. So even if your error-Googling doesn't work, there are a lot of active and super-responsive online forums where you can ask professional, passionate, helpful programmers questions about your code and they will reply with tips and tricks. StackOverflow is probably the most active community, and is well worth checking out.

There are a lot more reasons to use Python, but if you aren't convinced yet listen to this robot and snake discuss why Python's a great first language!

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