Why is Python so popular and who uses it?
30 Mar 2023
Charlie Bigger
What is Python, who uses it and why?
Inspirational Python Projects and Developers
Python has been around for over three decades and it has become one of the most popular programming languages in the world. Python's flexibility, ease of use, and powerful libraries make it an excellent choice for developing a wide range of projects.
But what makes Python truly remarkable is the community of developers who have used it to create some truly ground-breaking projects. From building cutting-edge machine learning models to developing innovative web applications, Python has proven itself to be a versatile language that can handle just about any task.
Here are just some of the companies that use Python:
- Instagram – The popular social media platform was built using Python. It is used by millions of people worldwide and has a large community of developers who use Python to build and maintain the platform.
- YouTube - The largest video sharing platform on the internet, and it was built using Python. Python is used to process and analyse the massive amounts of data generated by the platform every day.
- Spotify - The music streaming service that uses Python for various tasks, including data analysis, recommendation systems, and backend development.
- NASA - NASA uses Python extensively for scientific computing, data analysis, and visualization. Python is also used to develop software for spacecraft, satellites, and other space missions.
- Google - Google uses Python extensively for web development, data analysis, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. Python is the main programming language for many of Google's internal tools and applications, including YouTube as mentioned above), Google Search, and Google Maps.
- Meta - Meta uses Python for web development, data analysis, and artificial intelligence. Python is the primary language used for building and maintaining Facebook's backend infrastructure, including the news feed and advertising platform.
- Amazon - Amazon uses Python for various purposes, including web development, data analysis, and machine learning. Python is used to build and maintain Amazon's web services, including Amazon S3 and Amazon EC2.
- Netflix - Netflix uses Python for data analysis and machine learning. Python is used to build and maintain Netflix's recommendation system, which suggests movies and TV shows to users based on their viewing history.
- Dropbox - The cloud storage service that allows users to store and share files online. It was built using Python, and the company continues to use Python for various development tasks.
So, who are some of the inspirational Python engineers who have made a significant impact on the programming world?
- Guido van Rossum - He is the creator of Python and has been instrumental in shaping the language since its inception in the late 1980s. He continues to be involved in the development of Python, and has inspired countless developers with his vision for the language.
- Vicky Twomey-Lee - A Python developer and a prominent member of the Python community in Ireland. She is the founder of PyLadies Dublin, a group that aims to encourage and support women in the Python community, and has been involved in many other Python-related initiatives and projects. Vicky is also a member of the Python Software Foundation, a non-profit organization that supports and promotes the development of the Python programming language. She is a regular speaker at Python conferences and events, and has also taught Python courses and workshops.
- Raymond Hettinger - Raymond is a Python core developer, and has made numerous contributions to the language, including the popular itertools module. He is also known for his engaging talks and tutorials, which have inspired many developers to improve their Python skills
- Carol Willing - Carol is a Python developer who has contributed to many open-source projects, including Jupyter and the Python Packaging Authority. She is also a founding member of the Python Software Foundation's Diversity and Inclusion Workgroup.
- Wes McKinney - Wes is the creator of pandas, a popular data analysis library for Python. He has made significant contributions to the Python data science ecosystem, and has inspired many developers to use Python for data analysis and machine learning.
- Jessica McKellar - Jessica is a Python developer who has contributed to many open-source projects, including Twisted and OpenHatch. She is also the founder of the Boston Python Workshop, which teaches Python programming to women and other underrepresented groups.
- Travis Oliphant - Travis is the creator of NumPy, a foundational library for scientific computing in Python. He has also contributed to other Python libraries, including SciPy and pandas. His work has been instrumental in making Python a popular language for scientific computing.
- Lynn Root - Lynn is a Python developer who has contributed to many open-source projects, including Pandas and IPython. She is also a co-host of the podcast "Talk Python to Me," which features interviews with Python developers.
- Jake VanderPlas - Jake is a data scientist and the author of several popular Python libraries, including scikit-learn and matplotlib. He is also known for his engaging tutorials and blog posts, which have inspired many developers to learn more about Python data science.
- Ewa Jodlowska - Ewa is the executive director of the Python Software Foundation, which is a non-profit organization that supports the development and use of the Python programming language. She has worked to promote diversity and inclusion in the Python community
- Kenneth Reitz - Kenneth is a Python developer and open-source advocate who has contributed to numerous Python projects, including Requests, HTTPie, and Pipenv. He is also a well-known speaker in the Python community.
We have ongoing opportunities available for talented Python Developers for our clients across Fintech, MedTech, Manufacturing and Software. To hear more about current opportunities or to discuss how we can help you hire great Python talent or take your next step in your Python career, contact Charlie Bigger on 01-592 7867 or email him here