Python is a popular programming language that is fairly easy to learn: its clear syntax makes it easy to read and understand. Even kids can learn Python, and it's an ideal way to start coding.
But where does this language come from? Who came up with it?
Today we are going to tell you about it!
Who invented Python
By the creator of Python is Dutch programmer Guido van Rossum. He was born on January 31, 1956 in The Hague. In his own words, he came up with a new programming language because he was bored.
The childhood of a young electronics
Guido had a passion for electronics and technology since childhood, although none of his peers supported his interest. When the boy was 10 years old, his parents gave him his first set of young electronics. Guido, of course, was completely thrilled and was lost to society for a while.
The older the boy got, the more he went to school. In his own words, he became a real “nerd”: Guido was fond of physics and digital electronics. He quickly got bored at school, and in class he quietly discussed his own projects with a bunch of enthusiastic children.
Calculators and university basement
In 1974, he wrote his first article for a Dutch electronics magazine, which was published to his great surprise. That same year he went to university to study mathematics, but he didn't forget his passion. The guy was still known for his critical thinking, lively mind and curiosity.
One day, Guido realized he wasn't happy with conventional calculators and decided to design his own. However, when he found out that there was a powerful mainframe server in the basement of the university that students could use to learn programming, Guido literally settled there. The mainframe turned out to be much more interesting than the calculator! The guy got so into coding that he managed to get a job as a programmer, and he even almost dropped out.
Click programming languages like nuts
At his new job, Guido gradually learned all the programming languages that existed at that time: he started with Algol 60 and Fortran, then studied Pascal, Algol 68, and several other languages that no one had even heard of. As a result, he was well versed in 12 programming languages, each of which he learned on his own.
In 1982, the young man quit his first job and got a job at the Center for Mathematics and Computer Science (CWI) in Amsterdam.
Come up with Python out of boredom
This happened before Christmas 1989, when Guido had a two-week vacation and too much free time. To keep himself busy, the young specialist started developing his own project. Every day he sat down at his home Macintosh with a C compiler and built Python from scratch in three months. When the working version of the language was ready, Guido showed it to colleagues in the office who helped him improve it. Six months later, many CWI experts were writing Python code!
By the way, the name of the new programming language was born thanks to the comedy series Monty Python's Flying Circus.
Guido's contributions to computer science and open source development should not be underestimated. Today, Python is one of the most important programming languages in a wide variety of fields, such as web development, data analysis, artificial intelligence, science, and education.
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