I just received my B+ in my 100 level python programming class, and I realized I've never asked myself... "Where is Python used in the real world? What is Python's role?" I can't say I've ever heard any of my programming acquaintances talk about Python... perhaps for good reason?

I guess I'm just wondering what Python is used for in the working world, and if it's worth continuing?

Thanks!

Python is used in everything from computer games to scientific research projects to web servers. It tends to take the role of a prototyping and/or "glue" language, since it's high-level and relatively easy to program and debug.

Here are some products and companies you may be familiar with that use Python:

• Google
• Civilization IV
• YouTube
• EVE Online
• Industrial Light & Magic
• NASA

Hope that helps!

I personally have used Python extensively in my PhD research and in developing Poker Sleuth.

Let's replace "Python" with "programming language". I'm sure you can answer your two questions when talking about programming languages, right? Then, since Python is a programming language, the same answers tend to apply.

You can get a sense of who is using Python, by looking at the Python Quotes page. Notice any big names? If you spend enough time reading articles on blogs, etc. you'll find various engineers working in places like Fermilab, NASA, or contractors talking about using Python. Many games use Python (notably EVE Online an MMORPG).

You can also tell how much a language tends to be used for developing web applications by seeing what frameworks have come up for it. Python has a number of networking and web frameworks and libraries. I'll pick one framework (Django), and one type of user (newspapers). A number of newspapers use Django, a framework for web applications in Python.

While I myself really like Python, a larger point is that languages even not in widespread usage are very effective in certain domains or certain situations. You've probably never heard of Ada or SPARK but it is used in mission critical systems.

Ultimately, you lose in the end when you try to play a popularity game with programming languages, as you will develop a very parochial way of approaching program design. Programming is a field where you need knowledge and the ability to tackle and envision approaches from multiple angles, but when you play a popularity game, you also restrict what you learn.

This may not be your intention, but if you do intend to be a long term programmer, I hope you pick languages not just based on their popularity, but also as to what kind of ideas and concepts you may pickup from spending time with that language.

Python is (very) often used in the linux and open source circles, a lot of the time for "trivial" programs such as a podcast grabber.

There are plenty of large programs that have a portion written in python, one that comes to mind is OOo, but there is plenty, just pay attention to your dependencies, and you'll see it's not a "lightweight" language.

Python is also very useful for web programming, there's just a lot of third party libs written for doing such things (there's even one that can open a webbrower directly and chose the correct one for you whether your in a Xorg enviroment, Command line, or windows).

http://python.org/about/success/