Most beginners to programming are often torn between the myriad of programming languages to start learning. Even those who have been programming in one or few languages before often find it difficult picking another language to learn. This choice is made daunting simply because there are very many programming languages it is almost impossible to keep track of all of them. Among the most popular are Python, C#, C, C++, PHP, Ruby, Java, JavaScript, Visual Basics, Perl, Swift, and Objective C. The question, “Why should I use Python?” is often asked when people are told to learn Python.

The answer to that question is usually made obvious when you consider several individual aspects of the Python programming language. And that’s exactly what we’re going to do. We will examine several aspects of Python that make it the best programming language for you to use. And even if you’re a client wanting an app created for you, you will see the advantages that writing your app in Python has for you.

Below are some of the benefits of or reasons why you should use Python.

All Purpose Programming Language: Most programming languages have specific areas of focus or best use. PHP, for example, is best used for building websites and web apps (though in recent times it is evolving into other areas of use.) Python, unlike most others, is a general purpose programming language. It is used for all kinds of applications development. It is used in building great websites and web apps with frameworks like Flask and Django (developed fully in Python), desktop apps, and even mobile applications. Mobile apps development with Python is mostly achieved with the use of frameworks. An example of such a framework is the Kivy framework that has been in existence for several years and has a large community.

Some examples of web apps or companies that use Python include Dropbox, Google, Gmail, Facebook (the company, not the website), Instagram, YouTube and so many more and these are either great companies or products that have stood the test of time.

Best Entry Level Language: Python is one of the easiest programming languages to learn because Python emphasizes code readability. Reading and writing a code in Python is almost similar to writing in any human language. Codes written in Python are also shorter than code written in other programming language. These make learning it a lot easier and faster than learning other languages. And since it’s an all purpose programming language as stated above this is a big win for beginners – one programming language and you’re as good as covered. A number of the top tech schools in the world pick Python as their language of choice for introducing computer science. As a beginner, learning Python means you’re equipping yourself with the same skill as those who are trained in the top tech schools in the world.

Wide Range of Application and Use: The Python programming language is used in a very wide range of industries and across many fields of life. It is used in finance and economics, engineering, the sciences including bio sciences, medicine. Some of its best uses include in data visualization, machine learning, Big Data etc. This, coupled with the fact that it is very easy to learn, makes the language one of the go-to languages for most scientist and professionals. Scientist, doctors, other professionals and even students can learn it in as little time as possible and begin building amazing applications.

Python is Cross-platform: A great benefit of using Python is that Python and applications developed in Python are cross-platform. An application developed on Windows PC will work fine on a Mac and vice-versa. As a programmer this is a major benefit as you do not have to develop different apps for different platforms. One app, many platforms – that’s a plus in time investment. This also decreases development time if you have several platforms in mind when developing.

Turing Complete: Python is Turing Complete. The concepts of Turing completeness is gotten from the Turing Machine invented by Alan Turing. Turing Machines are the most powerful of machines and, if you can program them well, they can solve any mathematical problem. One important quality of a Turing Machine is that it can create other Turing machines. When applied to programming languages, in simple terms, the programming language should be able to write programs that solve any mathematical problems. They should have the capability of simulating any other Turing Machine.

Academically speaking, a programming language is Turing Complete if it meets these conditions:

1.       It has the ability for conditional branching, conditional jump or conditional repetition (execution of decisions as in the case of If statements, while and for loops).

2.       It has the ability to read and write to storage mechanism (as in the case of variable assignments and others)

These two conditions can be broken down into simpler terms including the following:

1.       A Turing Machine can run forever so a Turing Complete language can run forever.

2.       A Turing Machine can, technically, make use of infinite memory. A Turing Complete language can use up infinite memory.

3.       A Turing Complete language can make or execute infinite decisions as a Turing Machine can make infinite decisions based on the things it sees in memory.

As a programmer this means you have a ‘complete machine’ in the Python programming language with which you can create virtually anything you want.

Shorter Development Time: One of the biggest advantages of Python over other programming languages, for programmers and clients alike, is Python’s shorter development time. We live in a world where everyone wants things to happen fast. Things need to happen fast if you’re going to be relevant or at least keep up. This is one place Python ‘shines above them all’. No matter what it is you’re developing, you can be sure that the code for that program will be a lot shorter with Python than with other programming languages. This is better explained with a simple example so here’s one – the popular “Hello, World” program.

To write a program that prints out “Hello, World” in Java the code is as follows.

class HelloWorld

{

    public static void main(String args[])

    {

        System.out.println("Hello, World");

    }

}

The same  program in Python is a simple one-liner”

print (“Hello, World”)

This is for just a very small program. What do you think a large program will look like? The difference will be exceedingly clear. Development time in Python will always be many times shorter. As a matter of fact, it is said that one of 2011 Chevy had 11 million lines of code in it. The code was of course written in Java. Think for a moment: How long did it take to write those codes. Meanwhile, if those codes were written in Python, taking a cue from the code examples above, it will not amount to that much lines of code. Maybe just 5 or 6 million lines of codes. While any numbers stated here for the number of lines it would be written in Python is speculative, the fact remains that it will be significantly less.

Time and Money Saved: For Python programmers this means you are able to turnover projects in relatively shorter time which is a good thing as you can easily pick up new projects. For a client this also means that you get to save money as a result of the fact that development time is shorter. You do not only pay for the skill and final product, you pay for the efforts and time investment. And since development time is significantly reduced, money is saved!

There are so many other reasons and benefits why we use Python and why you should use Python too. Besides those explained above some others include a robust standard library, so many open source frameworks and tools, a large active community and multiple programming paradigms. If you are looking for a programming language to learn or use in developing applications, go with Python.