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Questions and Answers
What is the primary emphasis of Python's design philosophy?
What is the primary emphasis of Python's design philosophy?
What type of programming paradigms does Python support?
What type of programming paradigms does Python support?
What is Python often described as due to its comprehensive standard library?
What is Python often described as due to its comprehensive standard library?
Who shouldered sole responsibility for the Python project until 2018?
Who shouldered sole responsibility for the Python project until 2018?
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What was the significance of Python 2.0, released in 2000?
What was the significance of Python 2.0, released in 2000?
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What was the initial end-of-life date for Python 2.7?
What was the initial end-of-life date for Python 2.7?
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Which Python versions are currently supported as of 2023?
Which Python versions are currently supported as of 2023?
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What is the purpose of the 2to3 utility included in Python 3 releases?
What is the purpose of the 2to3 utility included in Python 3 releases?
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What was added to Python 3.10?
What was added to Python 3.10?
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What is supported by the unofficial Python implementation, PyPy?
What is supported by the unofficial Python implementation, PyPy?
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Study Notes
General-purpose Programming Language
- Python is a high-level, general-purpose programming language with an emphasis on code readability and uses significant indentation.
- It is dynamically typed and garbage-collected, supporting multiple programming paradigms like structured, object-oriented, and functional programming.
Features and Releases
- Python is often described as a "batteries included" language due to its comprehensive standard library.
- Guido van Rossum began working on Python in the late 1980s as a successor to the ABC programming language and first released it in 1991 as Python 0.9.0.
- Python 2.0 was released in 2000, and Python 3.0, released in 2008, was a major revision not completely backward-compatible with earlier versions.
- Python 2.7.18, released in 2020, was the last release of Python 2.
History of Python
- Guido van Rossum invented Python in the late 1980s at Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI) in the Netherlands as a successor to the ABC programming language.
- Van Rossum was the lead developer and sole responsible person for the project until 2018, when he announced his "permanent vacation" as Python's "benevolent dictator for life" (BDFL).
- In 2019, active Python core developers elected a five-member Steering Council to lead the project.
Notable Releases and Features
- Python 2.0 was released on 16 October 2000, with features like list comprehensions, cycle-detecting garbage collection, reference counting, and Unicode support.
- Python 3.0 was released on 3 December 2008, with many major features backported to Python 2.6.x and 2.7.x.
- Releases of Python 3 include the 2to3 utility, which automates the translation of Python 2 code to Python 3.
- Python 2.7's end-of-life was initially set for 2015, then postponed to 2020, and currently, only 3.8 and later are supported.
- Python 3.10 added the | union type operator and the match and case keywords (for structural pattern matching statements).
- Python 3.11 expanded exception handling functionality and increased program execution speed.
- Python 3.12 added the new keyword type and is the stable release as of October 2023.
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Description
Introduction to Python, a high-level, general-purpose programming language with a focus on code readability and support for multiple programming paradigms.
