1991...

WAR

KILLING MACHINES

GRUNGE

PYTHON

Guido Van Rossum

Benevolent Dictator For Life (BDFL)

Monty Python

Make Python fun to use.

The Zen of Python

• 1. Beautiful is better than ugly.
• 2. Explicit is better than implicit.
• 3. Simple is better than complex.
• ...
• 7. Readability counts.
• ...
• 12. Now is better than never.

Python Software Foundation

Language maturation

Python 1.x = 1991

Python 2.x = 2000

Python 3.x = 2008

Maturity

Java in 1991

.NET in 1991

Syntax

1. Read a file

2. Print each line

Java

import java.io.*;

class FileRead {
  public static void main(String args[]) {
    try {
      FileInputStream fstream = new FileInputStream("textfile.txt");
      DataInputStream in = new DataInputStream(fstream);
      BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(in));
      String strLine;
      while ((strLine = br.readLine()) != null)   {
          System.out.println (strLine);
      }
      in.close();
    } catch (Exception e){
        System.err.println("Error: " + e.getMessage());
    }
  }
}

// FML

Python

def read_file(filename):
    with open(filename, 'r') as f:
        print f.read()

Multiply that scenario dozens of times per day.

Data analysis

NumPy, SciPy, matplotlib

Java

Whitespace "matters"

Python

Whitespace matters

Python vs. Blub

Generally

Washington, DC

Media

• U.S. News and World Report
• Discovery Channel
• The Atlantic
• NPR
• Washington Post
• Gannett
• PBS

Government

• Library of Congress
• CFPB
• CIA
• NSA

Misc Connections

• SpanishDict
• Sunlight Foundation
• HumanGeo Group
• CirrusWorks

2008

• Python 2.5
• Django 0.96

2009 & 2010

• Idea -> Conception
• Open Source

2011

• SEIU prototype
• Marriott Mobile Prototype

Early 2012

• Excella Connect (LinkedIn)
• CFPB

Mid 2012

• George Washington University
• CFPB Human Capital Database

Late 2012

• Identifying & Developing Talent
• Excella Fit Wheels
• Excella Connect