Ans: Python is one of the most popular programming languages. It’s high-level, general-purpose and used widely for its simplicity. Python (latest is Python 3 onwards) is being used almost in every department including web development, Machine Learning applications, game development, along with all cutting-edge technology in Software Industry. Python is very suitable for beginners, intermediates and also for experienced programmers with knowledge in other programming languages like C++ and Java.
While you may think its name came from the large snake, it actually comes from an old BBC television comedy sketch series called “Monty Python’s Flying Circus”.
What’s more amazing is that it is ONE PERSON’s WORK! Usually, large companies with many pro employees develop and publish new programming languages and due to copyright rules, it is very hard to name any of the people involved in the project. Python is exceptional here! The name behind Python is Guido Van Rossum.
Of course, all the components and libraries aren’t developed and evolved by van Rossum himself! Continuous work of thousands (very often anonymous) programmers, testers, users (many of them aren’t IT specialists) and enthusiasts is behind the speed with which Python has spread around the world, but it must be said that the very first idea (the seed from which Python sprouted) came from one person’s mind – Guido’s.

1999, Guido explained his goals (for Python):
• an easy and intuitive language just as powerful as those of the major competitors;
• open source, so anyone can contribute to its development;
• code that is as understandable as plain English;
• suitable for everyday tasks, allowing for short development times.
• About 20 years later, it is clear that all these intentions have been fulfilled. Now, it’s one of the most (if not the most) popular programming languages in the world.

i. Python is currently holding the position for the most widely used multi-purpose, high-level programming language.
ii. Python supports programming in Object-Oriented and Procedural paradigms.
iii. Python programs generally are smaller in size than other programming languages like Java. Programmers type relatively less and the indentation required by the language makes them readable all the time.
iv. Python language is being used by almost all tech-giant companies like – Google, Amazon, Facebook, Instagram, Dropbox, Uber… etc.
v. The biggest strength of Python is huge collection of standard library which can be used for the following:
• Machine Learning
• GUI Applications (like Kivy, Tkinter, PyQt etc. )
• Web frameworks like Django (used by YouTube, Instagram, Dropbox)
• Image processing (like OpenCV, Pillow)
• Web scraping (like Scrapy, BeautifulSoup, Selenium)
• Test frameworks
• Multimedia
• Scientific computing
• Software Development (build control, management, and testing – Scons, Buildbot, Apache Gump, Roundup, Trac)
• Business applications (ERP and e-commerce systems – Odoo, Tryton)
• Games (e.g., Battlefield series, Sid Meier\’s Civilization IV…), websites and services (e.g., Dropbox, UBER, Pinterest, BuzzFeed…)
• Text processing and many more…