What is Python? An Introduction to the World's Most Popular Language

If you are in tech, or maybe even outside of the realm of a technology career, chances are you have heard of Python. A mystical, not so ancient, language that helps many different people do so many different things. Why can it do that, and why has Python taken the world by storm? And… What exactly is Python? Let’s dive into the world of this popular general-purpose language!

🐍 First, what is Python?

Python is a general-purpose programming language. While that might sound a little alien to you, basically what this means is Python can be used for almost anything. I use the word almost a little vaguely here, but there are reasons to choose something else that we will get into later in this article. The truth of the matter is, however, for most reasons Python handles the job perfectly.

Python was created by a man named Guido van Rossum and first released in 1991 (The Python Institute, n.d.). Yeah, 1991 was a long time ago… but that isn’t when it became popular by any means! Something else to note here, Python was originally developed by that single person! That might not sound like a feat, but trust me it is. Normally, programming languages are developed by large companies or insanely large groups of people in an open-source fashion. Having a single developer is crazy! That isn’t to say that no one else worked on today’s variant of Python, though.

Today’s version of Python is completely different from the original. Mainly because after Guido had created the programming language, he along with thousands of developers and enthusiasts worked hard to make the language what it is today. A multi-faceted, general-use language that is easy to read and very powerful even though it can be considered a “slower” language thanks to it’s line-by-line interpretation.

Thanks to all the work put in, Python is now a way to write instructions for computer programs, web servers, and even artificial intelligence! The main idea that I have when I think of Python is this:

An easy-to-read, customizable language that allows us to accomplish almost anything with the boundless building blocks that come along with it.

The last thing I want to touch on is the term general-purpose. Normally, programming languages are written for specific purposes. PHP is a server-side scripting language, JavaScript, up until very recently, was a client-side browser scripting language. The list goes on, but the term general-purpose means that it isn’t specific to one ideal. It’s usable for so many different things.

So, in a nutshell the key takeaway is Python is awesome. Let’s take a look at how people utilize the powers of Python around the world.

🧮 Data Science

In data science, those who work with big data see millions and millions of gigabytes of information passing to and from their respective servers every year. Across the world, that number of gigabytes happens every minute. How do we make sense of all that information? How can we figure out what piece of information is the most popular, or how people spend their time while on the web? Data scientists are behind that, and Python is widely used across the board to help with scientific automation when it comes to that big data.

Many places offer specific learning programs just to learn how to utilize Python for data science, for instance Harvard University has an Introduction to Data Science program tailored just for that purpose. Python, being so easy to read and set up, makes it easy to analyze all of this data through different code blocks that access databases and perform calculations. Doing what would take many years for humans in only a few seconds.

While Python isn’t the only tool for data scientists, it is safe to say that Python has helped shape what the current field looks like as a whole.

🤖 Automation

Python is excellent for automating tasks across different systems because, thankfully, Python is platform agnostic. All you have to do is verify that Python is installed in the environment and create your application. Some good examples of system automation include:

  • Setting up folder structures
  • Create environments (databases, etc.) on different systems
  • Internet of Things automation (Great for smaller projects, too, using RaspberryPi and similar systems)
  • Copying data and transmitting it to a single or multiple points
  • Setting up robotics
  • And more!

As humans, we have always strived to figure out how we can make our lives easier. From utilizing fire to learning how to create electricity. All of our constant work has pushed us to the society we have today. Now, we are striving towards automating our daily tasks. Python stands near the top of tools available to us to automate our daily tasks. Making it easier for us to perform our daily duties.

🥷 Cybersecurity

When we think of cybersecurity, most people don’t think of what language is helpful. Most of us think of hackers, hiding in the dark waiting for us to make a mistake. Or possibly even call and email scams coming through our inboxes. Truthfully, there is much more to cybersecurity. Python can be used to do so much, including:

  • Loggin visitors to websites
  • Checking authentication (permissions)
  • Creating backups incase of a cyber attack
  • Creating penetration tests for systems to help prevent cyber attacks
  • Automate cybersecurity test emails (phishing, etc.) to train employees

There is so much more, but this is just a generic overview! Python, being a general-purpose language, gives us the ability to do this!

☁️ Web Servers

Python already has the capabilities to wait for requests on specific ports (just like a web server), which means you can make a web server just using plain old Python code. However, the language already has frameworks and libraries built just for it: Flask and Django. These two frameworks allow for you to create a working web server in minutes, cutting down on development time.

Web servers are what give us websites, our computers connect to these servers as clients. The client sends the request to the server and the server sends back the html and other code that the client requires to run. This includes all web sites on the internet and is a foundational building block you learn in web development.

📝 Summary

In summary, Python is a programming language that can perform almost any task. From console programs to full-fledged applications and web servers. Is is the fastest language? No, not be any means. But is it fast enough to work for most (99%) of tasks? YES. Honestly, you can even make games with Python. They may not be able to have all of the bells and whistles of a game written in a low-level language like C or C++, but you can get up and running so much faster than if you had to write resource management for different systems with those languages.

I wish you the best on your development journey with Python, and I hope you enjoy it!

❓ Citations and Sources:

The Python Institute. (n.d.). About Python. The Python Institute. Retrieved from https://pythoninstitute.org/about-python on July 4, 2025.

Protopapas, P.. (n.d.). Introduction to Data Science with Python. Harvard Institute. Retrieved from https://pll.harvard.edu/course/introduction-data-science-python on July 4, 2025.

**NOTE: The above link from Harvard might not last forever, it states that it only applies until the end of 2025. The main reason for me leaving it is so you know what to look for when you search for a course related to Data Science with Python.