Introduction to modern python

Python is an interpreted, high-level programming language with dynamic semantics. Python programs have the extension.py and can be run from the command line by typing python file_name.py.

Why learn Python?

• It is also quite easy to learn, understand, code and a developer-friendly language.

• Python is free and open sourced. Not only can you download Python for free, but you can also download its source code, make changes to it and even distribute it.

• Python supports object-oriented programming and concepts of classes, objects encapsulation, etc.

• Python can be extended to other languages. You can write some of your code in languages like C++ or C. This comes in handy, especially in projects.

• Easily portable as it can be shared and you can run a code on any platform.

• Python has extensive libraries that contain codes for various purposes.So, we don’t have to write the complete code for that manually.

Where can Python be used ?

• Artificial Intelligence and machine learning.

• Web development.

• Game development.

• Data science.

• Audio and Visual Application.

• Software Development.

• Automation.

Setup your python working environment

For starters or data science enthusiasts,install anaconda

Anaconda | Individual Edition
Anaconda's open-source Individual Edition is the easiest way to perform Python/R data science and machine learning on a single machine. (19 kB)


For software developers/engineers install python interpreter ( preferably Python 3.8) here

Also install a text editor of your choice.I prefer Visual Studio Code which can be downloaded through this link.

At the end of the installation,confirm your installation by opening the terminal and type:

python --version

Then it should print the python version you just installed.
Now we are all set and you can proceed to create your first program!

Launch VS Code and create a new file where your codes will be saved and it must have the .py extension.
For instance,I will create a file called helloworld.py and type in :

print("Hello World!")

Save your file. Open your command line, navigate to the directory where you saved your file, and run the code.
The output should be:

Hello World!

Congratulations, you have written and executed your first Python program.