Study: Python use on the rise

According to the North American Development Survey by Evans Data Corporation, Python use has risen by 45 per cent since the Spring of 2008. The analysts believe that the April 2008 introduction of Google's App Engine platform, which previously only supported Python until this year, has lead to the increased use of the scripting language.

The Python programming language, originally introduced in 1991 as open source, has never had as many users as it does today. Before the Spring of 2008, only 13 per cent of developers used Python. Now, one and a half years after the introduction of the App Engine, that number has increased to 20.3 per cent. According to the analysts, other scripting languages like Ruby, PHP, Perl and Actionscript have "remained relatively constant" and only seen "small gains or losses".

Using App Engine, programmes can take advantage of Google's infrastructure to host their own applications. With it, developers don't have to worry about scaling and load balancing for their applications as the App Engine automatically takes care of it for them. Originally introduced with support for only Python, as of April of this year, Java is now also supported by Google's App Engine.

See also:

• New Survey Shows Python Use Has Risen 45% Since Google App Engine Debuted, press release from Evans.
• Python 3 moratorium now official, a report from The H.

(crve)