What is a PY file?

The Files with the .py extension contain the Python source code. The Python language has become very famous language now a days. It can be used for system scripting, web and software development and mathematics. Python supports cross-platform compatibility; means that the developed applications in Python can work on different platforms like Windows, MAC, Linux, Raspberry Pi, etc. Python provides a simple and easy to read syntax which is similar to the English language. Developers can write a reasonable software application by writing a few lines of Python code. Since the Python runs on an interpreter system, so the code can be executed as soon as it is written which makes it very good for prototyping.

The .py file extension is widely used by developers for creating Python applications, automating processes, and quickly prototyping concepts. Working with .py files is fundamental to using Python effectively. They can be used to write small scripts as well as complex systems.

Brief History

Python was conceived in the late 1980s by Guido van Rossum as a successor to ABC programming language. Its implementation began in December 1989 with Van Rossum as the sole lead developer. He worked on python until 12 July 2018. In January 2019, the active Python core developers elected a five-member “Steering Council” comprising of Nick Coghlan, Brett Cannon, Carol Willing, Barry Warsaw, and Van Rossum to lead the project.

Versions

  • Python 2.0 was released on 16 October 2000.
  • Python 3.0 was released on 3 December 2008.

How to run py file

To check the version of Python installed, you can use the following command:

python --version

This will output the version on the console like

Python 3.7.4

If Python is not installed on your machine, you can go to python.org and download and install Python for your relevant operating system.

To execute a Python script, you can use the following command:

python helloworld.py

helloworld.py is a script file that contains the following code

print("Hello World from Python")

This will print the following on the console window.

Hello World from Python

Note: If you use IDEs, they provide buttons on the screen or different keyboard shortcuts to run Python. For example, a play button is shown in the gutter with the editor in PyCharm that lets you execute the Python script.

PY File Format

Python was designed for readability and has similarities to English and Math. Python uses new lines to indicate the complete command as opposed to semicolons or parenthesis used in other languages. For scopes, loops, and functions, Python relies on indentation and whitespaces as opposed to curly braces used in other languages.

Syntax

The following is an example of Python syntax.

print("Hello World")

#Variables
name = "John"
age = 25
print(name)
print(age)

#While Loop
i = 1
while i < 3:
  print(i)
  i += 1
  
#For Loop
names = ["John", "Harry", "Tom"]
for name in names:
  print(name)

References

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