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Introduction to Python

We communicate with computers using code to make it do things.

People write code in many different programming languages, of which Python is one of the easiest, and most popular modern examples.

What is Python?​

Python is a high-level programming language, meaning that it is very easy to read and easy to write. It closely replicates plain english, meaning that it is easy to understand and use.

To see how Python makes things simple its users, let's see what it takes to say Hello, World! in C, one of the most historically-used programming languages:

Outputting Hello, World! in C​

hello_world.c
#include <stdio.h>

int main(void) {
    printf("Hello, World!\n");
    return;
}

Here it is again in Python.

Outputting Hello, World! in Python​

hello_world.py
print("Hello World!")

Clearly, you can see that the implementation is much simpler in Python. Python code is much simpler, easier to read, and requires less set-up to write code for whatever you need it to do.

It's easy to write code in Python! Let's learn how by clicking on the next chapter.