How does Python work?

Question

Describe how this language works.

Also, what job would requires the use of this language and list :
- the education required for this job
- other requirements (i.e. years of experience, certifications, etc.)
- the pay and benefits offered

Answer 1

Python, in most implementation, is an interpreted programming language.



How it works? It is interpreted by a Virtual Machine (VM) not unlike Java. A Virtual Machine is a special program that "compiles" a Python's code into OS-independent bytecodes, which is then interpreted into machine code at runtime.



Python's is available on a lot of platforms, from an embedded machine (mobile phone, PDAs) to supercomputers have Python interpreters. This is one of Python's best strong points. A carefully constructed code, could easily be portable on all platforms that have a Python VM.



Another strong points in Python is its numeric types. In most programming languages, you could only have integers up to 64-bit integer, in Python you are allowed an infinite-bound integer, only limited by available memory. And there is also variable-precision floating numbers through decimal class, in other languages, the floating numbers is limited to the hardware's fixed precision floating point number.



There is yet any known compiler that is capable of compiling Python code directly into machine code due to Python's dynamic nature. This dynamicity of Python makes it a very flexible language, yet also impossible to compile.



An example of Python's dynamicity is that it is trivial to change a class' definition in Python, while it is simply impossible in other static languages (e.g. C, C++, Java).



One of Python's philosophy is "duck typing", in which it has no strong typing system, making any objects, whatever it is, that "looks like a duck, acts like a duck, and quacks like a duck" must be a duck. Another philosophy is "Easier to Forgive than to Ask for Permission" (EFAP) in which, it prefers program to try doing something wrong an catch the errors rather than testing what type an object is (it prefers try..except..else block than if...elif...else block).



Improvements to the language has been steady throughout the years, although Python language was created and maintained by Guido van Rossum, which because of its single-man nature in deciding what to add and what to remove in Python is often jokingly called as a Benevolent Dictator For Life (BDFL) by people in forums and mailing lists.



The education required for this job could be minimal or even none. One could learn autodidactly and be very good in Python as the language is very easy to learn. But studying general Computer Science would be useful since you'll be taught about algorithms and such that would be useful in all programming languages and you might even be introduced to Python in these classes.



Jobs that requires this language would be a lot in the future. As computers become more powerful, the considerations for overhead because it's an interpreted language decreases significantly. And the power of the language, the expressiveness of a language would be the most important factor on choosing languages.

Answer 2

That is such a Freaudian question "Who beats the pythons?" I hope you know what a "Monty" is. If you do then you can understand just how wrong that question can be. Anyway, I thought they were brilliant for their time. I thought SNL had it's good times, as well. They are not the same but they are both entertaining. I saw a new show on HBO called "Underground" that looks to be funny though it is more like In "Living Color" than anything else. "Laugh In" had its time. I think we are due for the return of variety shows. I miss the days of shows like the "Carol Burnett Show" which had skits and they were funny too. I don't have a favorite novel or movie. I liked Dan Brown's books and I liked stupid movies, the dirtier the better, Drunken Lizzard, Ben Stiller, et al.

Answer 3

Python is a general-purpose, high-level programming language. Its design philosophy emphasizes programmer productivity and code readability. Python's core syntax and semantics are minimalist, while the standard library is large and comprehensive.



Usage:

Some of the largest projects that use Python are the Zope application server, the Mnet distributed file store, Youtube, and the original BitTorrent client. Large organizations that make use of Python include Google and NASA. Air Canada's reservation management system is written in Python.



Python has also seen extensive use in the information security industry. Notably, in several of the tools offered by Immunity Security, in several of the tools offered by Core Security, in the Web application security scanner Wapiti, and in the fuzzer TAOF. Python is commonly used in exploit development.



Python has been successfully embedded in a number of software products as a scripting language. It is commonly used in 3D animation packages, as in Maya, Softimage XSI, Modo, Nuke and Blender. It is also used in Paint Shop Pro. ESRI is now promoting Python as the best choice for writing scripts in ArcGIS. It is also used in Civilization IV as the control language for modding and event interaction. Eve Online, an MMORPG, is also built using Python.



For many operating systems, Python is a standard component; it ships with most Linux distributions, with FreeBSD, NetBSD, and OpenBSD, and with Mac OS X. Red Hat Linux and Fedora use the pythonic Anaconda. Gentoo Linux uses Python in its package management system, Portage, and the standard tool to access it, emerge. Pardus uses it for administration and during system boot.



Learning it:

The Python Academy offers courses for programmers and non-programmers as public courses held in Germany. On-site courses can be arranged in Europe or world-wide.

http://www.python-academy.com/



The pay and benefits you can get for these skills would be based on your negotiating skills.