Why Beginning Developers Love Python

Deb Nicholson, executive director of the Python Software Foundation, believes she knows why Python has become one of the most popular programming languages in the world.

It has less “syntactical overload” than many languages used by programmers with a deep computer science background, she told me when I hosted this episode of The New Stack Makers, where we discussed the present and future of Python.

Also, she noted, “It’s a great language for folks that want to learn how to code but aren’t sure what …  to do with it yet. And so you’re not as stuck as you are in some of the other languages that are more purpose-built for specific kinds of uses.”

Nicholson has led the Python Software Foundation since spring 2022. The nonprofit organization acts as the programming language’s fiscal home, serving its 8 million users worldwide.

“We also host the package index”— think Pip — “so all those great things that you can add to Python to make it do exactly what you want to do,” she said. “And there’s over half a million packages on the package index.”

Both big companies and small project teams contribute packages to Python’s repositories.

The foundation also works to keep the project healthy and secure, maintain and grow its community, and run educational opportunities and conferences around the world through its grants program.

Keeping Python repos secure is especially vital for an open source project like Python, Nicholson said. Anyone can add to the project, she said, but that also means that “not the majority, but occasionally, that produces some security things, which we also keep track of, and try to keep that sort of clean and fresh, and full of good software and no viruses.”

Python’s Future

What’s the future of Python? One of the first things Nicholson mentioned was multi-threading and a global interpreter that could help break Python free from the stigma of being a slow language.

Other new bits coming to Python include using Python for mobile devices, redoing the documentation process and changing the version numbering system to better match the calendar.

Python’s popularity has been driven in part by its usefulness in data science and training large language models. But Nicholson views AI with a small amount of skepticism. She says, “I think we’re kind of in the bubble where it’s like, oh, let’s use it [AI] for everything,” she said.

RIght now, she said, the trend is like when you find a new hot sauce and add it to everything — but then eventually realize that maybe it’s best used for tacos and not, say, ice cream. In other words, at some point, the industry will figure out the best purpose for AI and move on from using for everything (especially replacing staff).

Open Source and the Enterprise

Our Makers conversation turned to the subject of enterprise businesses and open source. Nicholson commented on the current trend of businesses built on open source technologies that have later turned to more restrictive licensing.

“Everyone wants the free part and then to close the door,” Nicholson said, adding that this “is not a very long-range view.”

Nicholson said she finds that disappointing. She understands the need to make a living from one’s work, she said, “So I get that people are kind of looking at how to game that. But I think some of the more interesting things are how you can build a company on open source. And I think there are some great models out there that leave the code alone and are more about what you do provide in exchange for money.”

To back that up, she mentioned Red Hat, a company built on open source technology that employs tens of thousands of people, and “a zillion companies are using Red Hat Enterprise Linux.”

Check out the full episode for Nicholson’s thoughts on Python, open source and more.