Applications of Python

Python Applications – Know what exactly you can do with Python

If you are a beginner in Python programming or already have some experience in it, you must be curious about What exactly Python is used for? What type of things people are building with Python? So, many questions like this will be in your mind.

Nothing to worry about, in this article we will be covering everything and discuss the top 10 real-world Python applications. Python, from its inception in 1991, has been committed to code readability. A brainchild of Guido van Rossum, it is now supported and advanced by the Python Software Foundation. Take a brief look at what we will be covering in this blog.

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• An Introduction to Python
• Benefits of Using Python
• Applications of Python in the Real World

• Web Application Development
• Data Science and Big Data
• Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
• Game Development
• Desktop GUIs
• Embedded Applications
• Software Development
• Business Applications
• Web Scraping Applications
• Education
• Games and 3D Graphics
• Database Access
• Network Programming

An Introduction to Python

As the fastest-growing language in the world, this general-purpose, high-level programming language has found immense applications in the real world and has become one of the most sought-after certifications.

Python allows programmers to work and integrate systems in a more efficient manner. In addition to its focus on readability, Python’s syntax allows for reduced lines of code. There are two major Python versions:

• Python 2
• Python 3

Benefits of Using Python

Several factors contribute to Python’s popularity with all its features and benefits:

• High-level language
• Object-oriented language
• Easy to learn
• User-friendly data structures
• Dynamically typed language, i.e., the data type is not required
• Open source and community development
• Extensive support libraries such as pandas, NumPy, etc.
• Portable across different operating systems
• Interactive
• Presence of third-party modules
• Scalable

Applications of Python in the Real World

Have you ever wondered, what is Python used for? The wide range of Python uses and applications is proof of why it is the go-to programming language for most developers. Let us discuss the top 10 applications of Python:

 Web Application Development

Web application development undeniably falls under the top applications of Python due to its provisions for scalability, convenience, and security. Python comes with several Web Development frameworks such as Django, Pyramid, and Flask. Django’s framework comes with standard libraries that allow for protocol integration, such as HTTPS, SSL, FTP, etc., and even help with email, XML, JSON, and many more. The development time is significantly reduced, and as a result, there is more time to market the application. The dynamic development features make it a perfect tool for developing Python web applications. Python is used for web development and internet applications. Web frameworks like Django and Flask are one of the most popular frameworks. They allow you to write server-side code in Python language.With a framework, it becomes easier to build backend logic like mapping different URLs to Python code, dealing with databases and generating HTML files to view on the user’s device.

The standard library of Python supports many internet protocols like:

•          HTML
•          JSON and XML
•          Email processing
•          FTP and IMAP
•          Socket interface.

Data Science and Big Data

The crucial part of Data Science and Big Data is the extraction of valuable insights from large data sets and data visualizations. This is where Python’s libraries, such as NumPy, SciPy, pandas, TensorFlow, Matplotlib, etc., come into play. pandas, NumPy, SciPy, etc., work with data, while Seaborn and Matplotlib are used for data visualization through graphs.

Data science is very popular and widespread. It is a preliminary requirement for data-based organizations and research. It stands to reason that the data science field has contributed tremendously to Python’s popularity as well.

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Python can handle computations that are crucial to building Machine Learning models. It is stable, secure, and has important applications in Machine Learning algorithms. The plethora of libraries it has includes Keras, SciPy, pandas, NumPy, and many others. Many developers find Python applications for building ML algorithms easy and convenient. Today is the era of Artificial intelligence (AI), where the machines with the help of technology are able to perform tasks that humans can do.Data science is a new trend in the modern world. In today's technology world, machines are able to perform tasks the same as a human. Machines are also able to learn using the algorithms and their experiences.Python is considered the most suitable language for Machine Learning (ML) or Artificial intelligence (AI).

Python language consists of many mathematical, scientific and statistical libraries.These libraries enable Python to solve many complex calculations very easily. When we want to implement algorithms related to machine learning, it becomes very complex sometimes because it requires very high and complex mathematical and scientific calculations. Python consists of many scientific and numeric libraries such as SciPy, Numpy, Scikit-learn, Pandas etc.If we have some prior knowledge of Python, we can import these Python libraries on top of our code.

Below is the list of some very popular frameworks and libraries used in Artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning (ML):

•          Pandas
•          SciPy
•          Numpy
•          Matplotlib
•          Scikit-learn etc.

Python is also great for AI solutions including Data Analytics, advanced computing, text and data processing, image recognition, and several others. Python also supports the domain with its extensive libraries.

 

Game Development

Owing to its numerous functionalities and add-ons, Python has proved to be a significant contributor to the gaming industry. Game developers have adopted the language for the rapid prototyping of interactive video games. Here are the top Python frameworks that are used in game development:

1.       Pygame: It helps to build fully featured games and multimedia programs.

2.       PyKyra: It is a fast framework for game development. It supports direct image reading, MPEG video, MP3, WAV, Ogg Vorbis, etc.

3.       Pyglet: It supports OpenGL graphics, UI event handling, windowing, loading images and videos, joysticks, and playing sounds and music

4.       PyOpenGL: It is interoperable with several external GUI libraries for Python including PyGame, Raw Xlib, PyQt, and many others.

5.       Kivy: It runs on OS X, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android, and Raspberry Pi and can use most inputs, protocols, and devices including WM_TOUCH, WM_PEN, Magic Mouse, Mac OS X Trackpad, Linux Kernel HID, Mtdev, and TUIO.

6.       Panda3D: It is used for real-time Python applications in 3D games, simulations, experiments, visualizations, etc.

7.       Cocos2d: It helps to build apps, games, and some cross-platform GUI-based interactive programs.

8.       Python-Ogre: It is a rendering engine that has speed and flexibility and supports an impressive feature set for game development.

9.       Ren’Py: It runs on every computer, has the ability to handle complex game logic, and is used in digital storytelling due to its easy handling of word combinations, images, and sounds to create visual novels and life simulation games.

10.   PySoy: It is a 3D game engine and supports Python 3.

Desktop GUIs

Creating desktop GUIs is another application of Python. Python is also used in the programming of desktop applications. Its Tkinter library helps with the development of UIs. Kivy, wxWidgets, PyQt, etc., are used to build applications on several platforms. GUI or Graphical User Interface is very helpful in providing a smooth graphic experience to the users. GUI in any application is used to make the user experience very robust and interactive. GUI interacts with the user of the application in the form of visual indicator representations instead of a text-based interaction.

• Python Tk GUI library is a library provided by python language to develop an interactive User Interface for the application.
• Below is the list of some popular GUI libraries provided by Python to develop an interactive User Interface:
• Kivy: Kivy library is provided by Python, and it is used for writing the multi touch application.
• Tk or Tkinter
• PyQt or Pyside
• wxWidgetM

Embedded Applications

It should not come as a surprise that embedded systems development also has used Python. Engineers and students are rapidly becoming familiar with Python programming. Maker movement and Raspberry Pi can be considered to be the reasons for Python’s popularity. The language itself is very flexible and easy to learn has led to the application of Python in microcontroller-based environments as well. Python helps to perform high-level applications on smaller devices since it is used to develop Embedded C software.

Prototyping

Programming in Python is easy when you compare it with other languages. It has easy syntax and it offers concise solutions for implementing all types of functionalities. This is the main reason why Python can be applied in prototyping stages of software development.

With many functionalities to offer, Python lets you develop a prototype of applications faster. Many organizations and firms use Python at the prototyping stage of a project.

Network Programming

With all those possibilities, how would Python slack in network programming? It does provide support for lower-level network programming:

·         Twisted Python – A framework for asynchronous network programming. 

·         An easy-to-use socket interface

 
Software Development

Simplifying the software development process for complex apps is one of the applications of Python. Developers implement SCons for the purpose of building control. They carry out automated continuous compilation and testing by using Buildbot and Apache Gump. Bug tracking and project management are done with Roundup and Trac. Data visualization and analysis are also possible through Python simplifying the custom solution process.

Business Applications

Business applications are significantly different from web applications. Business applications serve the requirements of organizations rather than individual users. Organizations prefer Python due to their need for application scalability, extensibility, and readability. Tryton and Odoo are good examples of platforms that aid in developing such business applications.

Business applications can get complicated as security and database handling capabilities are of utmost importance. Python can handle multiple database requests at once.

 

Web Scraping Applications

When it comes to extracting large amounts of data from websites, Python is a winner. The process of web scraping has proved to be very useful for pulling valuable information and making smart decisions. MechanicalSoup, Selenium, and Python Requests are some of the tools that are used to develop such applications. Python makes it easy to write software that can handle large amounts of data. After knowing that Python is capable of developing many types of web applications, we can understand how powerful Python is. Nowadays, Python is very popular among the web developers.

·         Python provides many libraries that are used to handle internet protocols such as XML, email processing, HTML, beautifulSoup, JSON, request, Feedparser etc.

·         Python provides many frameworks that are used to build vast categories of web applications.The list of frameworks provided by Python to develop the web application are given below:

•          Pyramid and Django frameworks: These frameworks of Python are used to build heavy web applications.
•          Bottle and flask framework: These frameworks provided by Python are used to build microframeworks for many web applications.
•          Django CMS and Plone framework: These frameworks are used to develop and work on advanced content management.
•       The web-framework 'Django' provided by Python is used on one of the most popular social media networks, i.e., Instagram.

Console-based application:

The console-based applications are the applications that run from the command shell or command-line. The console-based applications are the programs that are based on a computer command-line and use commands to execute and these are very popular among the old generation of computers.

• Python is very useful in developing such console-based applications efficiently and effectively.
• Python is very famous for having the Read-Eval-Print-Loop, which is knowns as REPL.
• The REPL feature of Python makes it the most suitable programming language for developing command-line applications.
• Python contains many types of modules or free libraries, which helps developers for working on the command line applications.
• The necessary input-output libraries in Python are used to read and write the data in the command line applications.
• Python has many advanced libraries which also enables developers to develop independent console applications.
• Python is also useful in parsing the argument and creating a console help text.

Education:

Python language applications are also seen in the education sector. Python is such a huge part of the programming world today that it is considered a core language requirement for students in schools and colleges. Python is an easy-to-learn programming language for beginners since its syntax is similar to English.

With a myriad of Python applications in the world of gaming, data science, machine learning, deep learning, artificial intelligence, etc., it is evident that Python’s importance will increase over the years.
3D CAD Applications

3D CAD means three-dimensional (3-D) Computer-aided Design. 3D CAD is an application that is used for technical documentation and designs. It has replaced manual drafting with its automation process. It is used for designing the architectural modules related to engineering. We use a 3D CAD application to represent part of a system in three-dimensional mode.

• Python has many libraries that are used to create 3D formations and structures.
• We can create 3D CAD applications using the framework and libraries provided by Python.
• Python frameworks provide many functionalities while developing a 3D CAD application using Python.
• We can create a 3D CAD application using Python with the following functionalities:
• HeeksCNC
• RCAM
• Fandango (Most Popular)
• AnyCAD
• CamVoX

Image Processing Applications

In today's world, we can see the live effect put on by digital image processing. Digital image processing is growing extensively in many fields with the time. Image processing is basically manipulating the image to get the desired outputs. Or we can say that, we perform some operation on a given image to get the desired output from the image.

• Python contains many libraries through which we can work with the images.
• Python libraries have much functionality which is very helpful while working with the image.
• We can manipulate the image with the Python libraries to get the output that is required.
• Application related to digital image processing can be developed with these Python libraries.
• Below is the list of some Python frameworks which are used to develop the image processing application:
• SimplelTK
• OpenCV
• Pillow

Audio or Video-based applications

There are many applications which are work on the audio and video-based applications. Some of these applications are even based on speech recognition features. These audio and Video-based applications are very popular nowadays.

• Python is very useful in creating multimedia applications.
• Python is also very flexible in performing multiple tasks at once.
• There are many multimedia applications that are developed using the Python framework.
• Some of the multimedia applications are cplay, Timplayer etc., which are developed using the python framework.

Below is the list of multimedia libraries present in Python through which we can build audio or video-based applications:

• QT Phonon
• Pyglet
• Gstreamer etc. 

Enterprise Applications

Enterprise applications are the solutions provided in the form of software technology, which provides business logic and many different tools to draw the model of the entire business process. Enterprise applications are used for improving the productivity and efficiency of the organization.

• Customer relationship management system and billing system are the best examples of enterprise applications.
• Python can be used to create enterprise applications.
• Some real-time enterprise application developed with Python language are:
• Picanto
• OpenERP
• Tryton etc.
• Python can provide libraries through which we can create an application that is used in customer management relationships or supplier management relationships system and very helpful for an enterprise.

Other Python Applications

These are some of the major Python Applications. Apart from what we just discussed, it still finds use in more places:

• Console-based Applications

• Audio or Video-based Applications

• Applications for Images

• Enterprise Applications

• 3D CAD Applications

• Computer Vision (Facilities like face-detection and color-detection)

• Machine Learning

• Robotics

• Web Scraping (Harvesting data from websites)

• Scripting

• Artificial Intelligence

• Data Analysis (The Hottest of Python Applications)

Summary

So, in this section, we have studied all types of applications that can be developed using the Python framework and libraries. As we have seen Python plays a very important and crucial role in the development of all these applications. Python has a very vital role in the functionalities and development of these applications. Python language is famous for its general-purpose nature, which enables developers to use it in every field of development. Python can be found in every emerging field in terms of technologies. 

Now we know Python is everywhere and we have seen this in Data Flair’s Python Applications article. Moreover, we learned that the applications of Python lets us develop a web application without too much trouble; it helps to draft a user interface for an application.

 

And not so surprising that Python finds its place in the scientific community. We have also seen its application in education and business. We have learned how Python slack in network programming as well as we have thrown light on some more Python applications.