16 Questions
What philosophy does Python's design emphasize?
Code readability
What is Python?
High-level, general-purpose programming language
What type of programming paradigms does Python support?
Structured, object-oriented, and functional programming
Why is Python often described as a 'batteries included' language?
Due to its comprehensive standard library
Who began working on Python?
Guido van Rossum
What was the first version of Python released?
Python 0.9.0
When was Python 2.0 released?
16 October 2000
Who was the lead developer of Python until 2018?
Guido van Rossum
What is the primary purpose of the 2to3 utility in Python 3 releases?
To automate the translation of Python 2 code to Python 3
What was the original end-of-life date for Python 2.7?
2015
Which versions of Python are currently supported as of 2023?
3.8 and later
What is the name of the unofficial Python implementation that continues to support Python 2?
PyPy
What was the reason for expediting security updates in 2021 and 2022?
Remote code execution and web-cache poisoning
What is the current stable release of Python as of October 2023?
Python 3.12
What notable change was introduced in Python 3.11?
Increased program execution speed
What is the new (soft) keyword type added in Python 3.12?
type
Study Notes
General-purpose Programming Language
- Python is a high-level, general-purpose programming language that emphasizes code readability with significant indentation.
- It is dynamically typed and garbage-collected, supporting multiple programming paradigms, including structured, object-oriented, and functional programming.
History of Python
- Guido van Rossum began working on Python in the late 1980s as a successor to the ABC programming language.
- Python 0.9.0 was first released in 1991.
- Python 2.0 was released in 2000, with many major new features such as list comprehensions and Unicode support.
- Python 3.0 was released in 2008, with many of its major features backported to Python 2.6.x and 2.7.x.
Releases and Support
- Python 2.7's end-of-life was initially set for 2015, then postponed to 2020.
- Python 2.7.18, released in 2020, was the last release of Python 2.
- Currently, only Python 3.8 and later are supported (2023 security issues were fixed in e.g. 3.7.17, the final 3.7.x release).
- PyPy, an unofficial Python implementation, continues to support Python 2, i.e. "2.7.18+" (plus 3.9 and 3.10).
Recent Developments
- In 2021 and 2022, security updates were expedited due to security issues leading to possible remote code execution and web-cache poisoning.
- Python 3.10.4 and 3.9.12 were expedited and 3.8.13 due to many security issues.
- Python 3.9.13 was released in May 2022, announcing that the 3.9 series would only receive security fixes in the future.
- As of October 2023, Python 3.12 is the stable release, and 3.12 and 3.11 are the only versions with active (as opposed to just security) support.
- Notable changes in 3.11 include increased program execution speed and improved error reporting.
- Python 3.12 adds syntax to the language, including the new (soft) keyword type, and improved error reporting.
Learn about Python, a high-level, general-purpose programming language that emphasizes code readability and supports multiple programming paradigms. Discover its features and design philosophy.
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