Python is the third most popular programming language in the world, according to the TIOBE index. It’s applied in data science, AI and machine learning, web development and the Internet of Things, contributing to how companies like Instagram and Spotify produce features and run their operations.
Austin tech professionals at Optimizely, Literati and Shipwell cite the language’s speed and the versatility — provided by more than 200 modules in its standard library — as two of the main reasons they use it. The libraries prevent teams from repeating work whenever they wish to develop new products or features, freeing up time and resources to create customer solutions more frequently and efficiently.
“It has a large ecosystem of well-supported, open-source libraries to avoid reinventing the wheel,” Optimizely Tech Lead and Software Engineer Yeeland Chen said.
The use of the Python web framework Django enables developers to move quickly when creating complex websites and apps, thanks to the emphasis on rapid development and reusability that the pairing provides. Literati CTO Charlie DeTar said the pairing makes up the backbone of much of the company’s code infrastructure because of the ease of app development. Django and Python also allow Senior Back-end Engineer Phillip Verheyden’s team at Shipwell to integrate APIs within and outside their platform easily.
The more familiar you are with something, the easier it is to see all of its benefits. For DeTar at Literati, his successful experiences using Python swayed him to use it in building out the company’s infrastructure, rather than turning to a number of other popular languages.
What’s a project you are working on in Python and why was it the best language for the job?
Python was the best when I got started because it was the language I was most familiar with. I built systems with server-side JavaScript, Ruby, PHP and Java, but had the best success using Python. A big part of that success is due to the Django web framework, which is fantastic for rapid application development.
Today, we are using Python to build a web application, an inventory control system, a fulfillment system and a financial reporting system.
Python is the technical foundation for everything we do.”
What impact will this project have on your business?
Python is the technical foundation for everything we do: letting people sign up for subscriptions, printing personalized assets, processing returns and more.
We could’ve built our infrastructure in the same way with any number of other technologies. The thing that made Python the best was my personal history and familiarity with it. It also helps that Python and Django are mature technologies that are extremely popular, so there are a lot of libraries to do almost anything with, and lots of developers to hire who know how to use them.
Speed and scale are the main reasons Verheyden and his team at Shipwell use Python and Django. Because of their ability to ease API integrations, the language and its complementary framework allow Shipwell’s dev team to work with more agency while also expanding their operations.
What’s a project you are working on in Python and why was it the best language for the job?
I’m working on consistency in our APIs as well as breaking out the functionality we have historically bundled together into discrete microservices. Python and Django are great for this because they’re “batteries included.” Python has been around forever and has a robust ecosystem of libraries to help us deliver value faster.
Our microservices will allow our engineering team to scale and operate independently.”
What impact will this project have on your business?
A consistent set of APIs will make integrations into and out of our platform a breeze. We are trying to deliver product as quickly as possible. Our microservices will allow our engineering team to scale and operate independently with their own feature development and release cadences.
Python’s readability and the speed of development offered through its libraries made it the ideal language for Chen’s team at Optimizely to use for their new project “targeted rollouts.” The tech lead and software engineer discussed how their latest initiative benefits from the rapid pace of iteration that Python provides.
What’s a project you are working on in Python and why was it the best language for the job?
My team is currently working on “targeted rollouts,” which enable our customers to fine-tune the way they target audiences when rolling out features. Python’s clean syntax and speed of development make it the best language for this project. It has a large ecosystem of well-supported, open-source libraries to avoid reinventing the wheel. Ultimately, we will get the new functionality to our customers faster and iterate on feedback sooner.
Python’s clean syntax and speed of development make it the best language for this project.”
What impact will this project have on your business?
Right now, if product managers or engineers want to release a new feature to their users, they can only control the rollout for a specific subset of their users. With targeted rollouts, our customers can deliver a feature to different percentages of different audiences instead of gradually rolling out to everyone.
