Python is one of the most popular programming languages in the world today. The code is simple, easy to read, and very powerful. The man behind Python is Guido van Rossum, a Dutch programmer who wanted to make coding accessible and easy for everyone. His work changed the history of coding and helped many aspiring programming students reach their goals of working in tech.
Today, weāre taking a look at who Guido really is, and how he went from a simple man interested in technology to founding one of the world’s more recognized programming languages.
Who is Guido van Rossum?
Guido van Rossum was born on January 31, 1956, in the Netherlands. From a young age, Guido loved learning about technology, computers, and mathematics. He studied at the University of Amsterdam and got a degree in computer science.
At the start of his career, he worked on a project called the ABC programming language. The project went well and the language was developing nicely, but Guido saw several problems with its practicality.
He wanted to create a language that was betterāsomething more simple, clear, and something that anyone could learn to use well. Thatās how the idea of building Python started.
The Early Days of Python
In 1989, Guido van Rossum was looking for a fun project to work on during his free time. Remember ABC, the programming language? Well, Guido started developing a new language similar to ABC, but he fixed the problems he saw with the original version. He wanted to make a language that was easy to read and write but still powerful enough for big projects.
In just two years, in 1991, he released Python. He names the language after his favorite comedy show, Monty Pythonās Flying Circus. Giving the language a funny and somewhat strange name helped bring attention to it on international markets, and made it more memorable for users.
Why is Python So Popular?
But why did Python become so popular, and what makes it different from other programming languages? There are plenty of aspects to that answer, but let’s take a look at the most notable ones:
- It is easy to read and understand.
- It uses simple words and rules.
- It’s useful for many things, like website building, artificial intelligence, and data science to name a few.
- It has a large online community of developers who help each other when needed.
Python continues to grow in popularity every year.
Today, companies like Google, Facebook, and Microsoft all use Python in their projects, to various extents.
Guido van Rossumās Impact on Coding
For many years, Guido van Rossum remained the leader of his Python project. He made important decisions for the company and helped improve the language, making it more user-friendly. Because of this, people in the Python community gave him the title of “Benevolent Dictator For Life” (BDFL).
āBenevolent Dictator For Life is an informal title, sometimes used humorously, given to an individual in an open source development community. The person is usually the founder of the projectā.
Citizendium
In 2018, Guido decided to step down from his role and let others take charge of Python. But he didnāt retire from working completely, just a few years later he was back on another project, helping to make the world of coding a better place once again! Even though Guido no longer stands behind the development of Python, his ideas and influence remain strong in the programming world today.
The Guido van Rossum Legacy
The work of Guido van Rossum significantly changed the past, present, and future of coding. Python made programming easier for students and beginners to learn, and for professional developers to use in their day-to-day tasks. Today, the language is used in many fields, including:
- Web development
- Data Science
- Artificial Intelligence (AI)
- Automation
Conclusion
Guido van Rossum created Python to make coding simple, fun, and effective. He wanted to help people learn programming without having to spend years studying code. Today, Python is one of the most-used programming languages in the world. His work has helped millions of people directly or indirectly (think about it, some of your favorite online platforms were probably written with Python). His influence and legacy will continue for many years.
We hope the article sheds some light on who Guido is, and his role in the world of programming. If youāre interested in learning Python yourself, weāve got some great online coding courses at Froggy Code. Check out our interactive, fully online, hands-on coding courses in Python, Vue.js, C#, and more!
