Will Python Language Be the Fastest-Growing Language in the Future?
Gone are the days when the word Python had only a single-file meaning: a giant snake. Even for today’s layman, the initial recall upon hearing or reading the word Python is not the snake but the programming language. User statistics reveal Python to be the fourth most popular programming language. The rise in the programming language’s popularity can be credited to Stack Overflow trends and popular academic and industry preferences.
The computer science space is very competitive; it takes only a couple of weeks for one trend to overtake another. Despite the popularity of the programming language, it still has a lot of competition, and new developments may bring challenges to the language’s current popularity. Will Python win the race to become the fastest-growing language in the future?
What Makes Python So Special?
It is well-established that Python is currently the fastest-growing language. So let’s delve into some of the reasons for its popularity.
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Easy To Use
Programming is considered complicated because of the hassle. Not every programmer prefers weaving tangled, complicated webs. However, no one prefers it anymore with things the fast-paced they are today. The primary reason why Python is so popular is that it is super simple to use. There is no complicated, nerve-wracking syntax, no confusing concepts. Moreover, it is efficient! You can finish a program using comparatively fewer lines of code.
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Supportive Community
It has been around since the early 90s, and Python has had ample time to grow its community of supporters. As a result, newbies can find mentors in old Python programmers, perfecting their craft with useful tips and tricks. This also makes learning the language easy and why new programmers prefer investing their time in Python.
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Library and Framework Abundance
For a language harboring popular support, growth and development are natural. Python has hundreds of libraries and frameworks that prove useful and save time. There are some popular libraries of Python. SciPy and NumPy are used for scientific computing; Django for web; Beautiful Soup, for HTML and XML parsing; scikit-Learn, for machine learning; and NLTK for natural language processing.
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Corporate Support
Much like endorsed brands, programming languages require support as well. All the industry leaders, such as Google, Facebook, Amazon, Quora, etc., use Python in their product development. However, Google takes it up a notch by providing various guides and tutorials for working with the language, like in Google’s Python Class. Corporate endorsement and support play a crucial role in the ascension of a programming language, as can be seen in Python’s case.
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Usage in Big Data and Machine Learning
Big Data and Machine Learning are the new cool kids in town. Preference is given to Python in the research and development of these constructs. Data and analytics tools like scikit-Learn and big data tools like PySpark also use Python. Apart from these, Python is also used in Artificial Intelligence, and its usage in these fields is a huge factor in the programming language’s consistent, rapid growth.
While quantifying the success of a programming language cannot be left solely to the crests and troughs of trends. However, there is always a possibility of a new language surfacing that is easier and more efficient than Python. But seeing how popular the language is and the preference programmers have for it, it can be safely assumed that it will continue to grow in the future. It takes time for the collective masses to adapt to a new language. Also, for a new language to completely take over an old veteran takes time. Python is here to stay.