Python (programming language)

Python is a widely used general-purpose, high-level programming language. Its design philosophy emphasizes code readability, and its syntax allows programmers to express concepts in fewer lines of code than would be possible in languages such as C++ or Java. The language provides constructs intended to enable clear programs on both a small and large scale.

Python supports multiple programming paradigms, including object-oriented, imperative and functional programming or procedural styles. It features a dynamic type system and automatic memory management and has a large and comprehensive standard library.

Python interpreters are available for installation on many operating systems, allowing Python code execution on a wide variety of systems. Using third-party  tools, such as Py2exe or Pyinstaller,Python code can be packaged into stand-alone executable programs for some of the most popular operating systems, allowing for the distribution of Python-based software for use on those environments without requiring the installation of a Python interpreter.

Cpython, the reference implementation of Python, is free and open-source software and has a community-based development model, as do nearly all of its alternative implementations. CPython is managed by the non-profit Python Software Foundation.

Python's development is conducted largely through the Python Enhancement Proposal (PEP) process. The PEP process is the primary mechanism for proposing major new features, for collecting community input on an issue, and for documenting the design decisions that have gone into Python Outstanding PEPs are reviewed and commented upon by the Python community and by Van Rossum, the Python project's benevolent dictator for life.

Enhancement of the language goes along with development of the CPython reference implementation. The mailing list python-dev is the primary forum for discussion about the language's development; specific issues are discussed in the Roundup bug tracker maintained at python.org.Development takes place on a self-hosted source code repository running Mercurial.
CPython's public releases come in three types, distinguished by which part of the version number is incremented:

• Backwards-incompatible versions, where code is expected to break and must be manually ported. The first part of the version number is incremented. These releases happen infrequently—for example, version 3.0 was released 8 years after 2.0.
• Major or "feature" releases, which are largely compatible but introduce new features. The second part of the version number is incremented. These releases are scheduled to occur roughly every 18 months, and each major version is supported by bugfixes for several years after its release.
• Bugfix releases, which introduce no new features but fix bugs. The third and final part of the version number is incremented. These releases are made whenever a sufficient number of bugs have been fixed upstream since the last release, or roughly every 3 months. Security vulnerabilities are also patched in bugfix releases

A number of alpha, beta, and release-candidates are also released as previews and for testing before the final release is made. Although there is a rough schedule for each release, this is often pushed back if the code is not ready. The development team monitor the state of the code by running the large unit test suite during development, and using the BuildBot continuous integration system.
The community of Python developers has also contributed over 58,000 software modules (as of 2 May 2015) to the Python Package Index (called PyPI), the official repository of third-party libraries for Python.
The major academic conference on Python is named PyCon. There are special mentoring programmes like the Pyladies.

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