What Is Python?

How great would it be to develop (write) your own computer program? Or design a web or desktop application that millions of people could enjoy? Both are possible if you learn to code in Python.

Python is the very versatile, object-oriented programming language used by start-ups and tech giants, Google, Facebook, Dropbox, and IBM. Python is also recommended for aspiring young developers who are interested in pursuing careers in Security, Networking, and Internet-of-Things.

Python is an interpreted, object-oriented, high-level programming language with dynamic semantics. Its high-level built in data structures, combined with dynamic typing and dynamic binding, make it very attractive for Rapid Application Development, as well as for use as a scripting or glue language to connect existing components together.

Python is an interpreted, object-oriented, high-level programming language with dynamic semantics. Python emphasizes readability which is simple and easy to learn syntax, and therefore it’s an ideal coding language for those who want rapid development.

Python’s simple, easy to learn syntax emphasizes readability and therefore reduces the cost of program maintenance.

Python supports modules and packages, which encourages program modularity and code reuse. The Python interpreter and the extensive standard library are available in source or binary form without charge for all major platforms, and can be freely distributed.

Often, programmers fall in love with Python because of the increased productivity it provides. Since there is no compilation step, the edit-test-debug cycle is incredibly fast.

Debugging Python programs is easy: a bug or bad input will never cause a segmentation fault. Instead, when the interpreter discovers an error, it raises an exception. When the program doesn’t catch the exception, the interpreter prints a stack trace.

A source level debugger allows inspection of local and global variables, evaluation of arbitrary expressions, setting breakpoints, stepping through the code a line at a time, and so on. The debugger is written in Python itself, testifying to Python’s introspective power.

On the other hand, often the quickest way to debug a program is to add a few print statements to the source: the fast edit-test-debug cycle makes this simple approach very effective.

How And Ways to Step-up Your Game in The Python Programming Arena

Reading ‘how-to’ tutorials for beginners on the internet is an effective way to get a good grip on the basics of programming, specifically, coding. But as you move forward and get constantly directed to more ‘how-to’ blogs, you’re going to eventually ask, “where do I go from here?”.

As programmers, it’s quite common to have that “as long as it works” mentality.

It doesn’t matter how it looks, as long as it works. It doesn’t matter how long or short, as long as it works.

But you also know that programming is not just all about that. It is also about coding efficiently and making it readable. Not just for machines but also for other programmers. In short, there are more ways to step-up your game in the Python programming arena.

Start with these 7 simple ways:

1. Remember the Python built-in functions.
Python comes with many functions that even master Python coders are probably not able to memorize all. But it would make your coding a lot easier if you could make the most of these built-ins.

In an estimate, a programmer might be needing approximately 25-30 essential functions to make a code running. But don’t be afraid to use more. Here is a list of built-in functions that beginners often miss:

? sum- returns the sum of specified iterable numbers
? enumerate- useful for counting upward while looping over an iterable
? zip- used for looping over multiple iterables at the same time
? bool- checks the truthiness of a Python object
? float- convert integers to floating-point numbers
? sorted- returns specified iterables in a new ordered list
? min and max- returns that min and max of iterables
? breakpoint- a Python debugger that pauses the execution of your code
It is common programmers advice to import all the modules you will be using for your project at the very beginning. You probably follow it religiously, and even sorting them alphabetically.

2. Use Python’s latest releases
Python is a well-maintained machine. So, you could expect updates and releases from time to time. The developers in the Python community are dedicated to making each update more optimized than before.

However, you should be very careful with upgrading to the latest version and make sure that your favorite libraries are compatible with the updates.

3. Be friends with GitHub and Stack Overflow
Reading can greatly improve your coding skills. And GitHub is a place to find really good stuff to read and projects to practice on. GitHub is full of other programmers’ code, programmers from beginners to experts. And you might find it exciting and helpful to learn how these programmers are writing and solving problems with their code.

In the same way, Stack Overflow can be your best friend when you are coding. Especially when you encounter an error you can’t seem to solve on your own. Stack Overflow is overflowing with the answers to most of your questions.

4. Import modules… but not all at once
It is a common programmer advice to import all the modules you will be using for your project at the very beginning. You probably follow it religiously, and even sorting them alphabetically.

But as you go on, you might find it easier to only upload modules as you need them. This way all the modules won’t take so much time to load during startup and can reduce peaks of memory usage.

5. Avoid using global variables
Python is generally faster in retrieving local variables than global ones. Simple, this is another way to boost your coding efficiency. This can also help you avoid unnecessary memory usage and help you keep track of your scopes.

6. Experiment
You know how hard it is to withdraw from your current and most used coding technique. However, experimenting will allow you to discover better techniques, especially when your current technique is not working really well for you.

Besides, programming is a continuous process of learning. So, experimenting can encourage you to be more innovative and creative.

7. Use Python performance tool
There are more, a lot more ways to improve your code and your future projects. Which you’ll find out as you go along your Python journey. Sometimes, you’ll find them very helpful, but you’ll never really know how helpful (or sometimes harmful) it is for your project until it goes to production. Luckily, some tools can help you with this. Profiling and performance tools can help you see how your code will perform in production, as well as error tracking and server metrics.

When you are in a path of mastering something, there could be a couple of self-doubts that you might encounter. You might be feeling too tired of learning new techniques and might think of just going back to the old “as long as it works” habit.

And although this might really work for you, it may not be enough.

Every day, hundreds of motivated people are out there on the internet, boot camps, and conferences to learn how to be a programmer or how to be better at what they do. And if basic knowledge is already good enough for you, sadly, you might be left behind. So, step out of your comfort zone. And step up your Python game.

Why is Python so popular?
Python is the third most popular programming language in the world, behind only Java and C according to the TIOBE index. Python’s popularity can be attributed to the following factors:
? Ease of use
? Simple syntax
? Versatility

What is Python used for?
1. Data Analytics
Python programming is utilized in data analytics, which is a rapidly growing field. There is a demand for those who can collect, manipulate, and organize data at a time when we are creating more data than ever before.

2. AI And Machine Learning
Python is ideal for many machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) projects due to its reliable, flexible, and simple programming language. In fact, there are lots of Python machine learning and AI libraries and packages available among the favourite programming languages by data scientists.

3. Web Development
Python is an excellent programming language for web development. This is largely owing to the several Python web development frameworks available, including Django, Pyramid, and Flask. Sites and services like Spotify, Reddit, and Mozilla have all made use of these frameworks.

4. Game Development
Python has its uses in the game development industry, despite the fact that it is far from being an industry standard. It’s possible to create simple games using the programming language, which means it can be a useful tool for quickly developing a prototype.

5. Finance
Python is becoming more widely used in finance, particularly in fields such as quantitative and qualitative analysis. It can be a useful tool for predicting asset price trends and automating workflows across multiple data sources, as well as determining asset price trends and predictions.

SEE ALSO :  BUSINESS BENEFITS OF CHOOSING PYTHON

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The programming language Swift was developed by Apple Inc. and first officially launched on 2014. It is a general purpose, compiler programming language intended for its usage on a wide variety of application domain. It has a multi- paradigm feature that attributes it as a protocol oriented, object-oriented, functional, imperative and block structured declarative programming language.

It is an intuitive programming language designed for operating systems like macOS, iOS, tvOS, iOS, iPadOS, Linux, watchOS and z/OS. It is mainly designed for Apple’s native API Cocoa, the development framework Cocoa Touch and the object-oriented C codes used widely for various Apple products. It aims in incorporating various Objective-C code features ensuring much wider security factors, which in turn helps the software testers to identify software bugs more easily.

Learning Swift For Ethical Hacking Purposes

Swift is recognized as a ‘powerful’ and fastest growing programming language in the history of technology.

The popularity of this language among techies has come from the ‘intuitive’ part which makes Swift an easy to learn and easy to use programming language, even for non-programmers and with minimum technical know-how.

The developers find Swift coding to be interactive and fun due to its lucid application of simpler syntaxes that are compact yet demonstrative. New programmers find it friendly and easy to adopt.

Swift language is incorporated with modern features that are equally welcoming for the developers and end users using the final product. It is designed in a ‘safe’ format and it is also known to develop softwares that has unmatched operational speed. Whether it is for phone, desktop, servers or any other machine running codes, Swift is a perfect solution for developing APIs for every platform. This is why it is very commonly used in mobile app development. This also makes Swift very good to know for ethical hacking purposes.

There are many well known bug bounty programs offered for large mobile app companies. In fact a popular casual dating app called Meetnfk gave two programmers a reward of $250,000 USD for discovering and exploit and implementing a fix to their Swift coding. Adult apps tend to offer large rewards due to them often being targeted for security and data breaches.

Key Features Supported By Swift Coding

Swift is closure supportive.
In Objective-C using of some core strings required method calls, which in Swift has been incorporated in the core language making it easily accessible.

Five levels of access control are supported by the Swift. The levels are open, public, internal, private and fileprivate.

An important inclusion in Swift is the usage of option types and using a new keyword ‘guard’ to protect the chaining process.

Swift allows the usage of objects that has got pass-by-value semantics making it a feature that provides flexibility to the programmers.

Protocols or more commonly known as interfaces are used in Swift, making it a protocol-oriented programming.

Easier memory allocation and deallocation with the incorporation of Automatic Reference Counting or ARC memory management.

Efficient debugging on the development environment for the usage of read-eval-print loop or REPL. The REPL adoption with the Swift playgrounds, has made debugging interactive and hence much easier by responding well with run time debugger changes and codes.

High performance with safety assurance.

Swift is said to have produced some ground-breaking results combining the best of Apple’s engineering think-tanks and the wide open source of contributors.

What Is Hacking?
Hacking is referred to as the activities which actually seek to compromise all kinds of digital devices. It can be tablets, smartphones, and computers or it can even be an entire network. Hacking need not be connected to malicious purpose in all cases. Hackers need not be cyber criminals but in most the cases they are and what is the reason hacking has been connected with malicious activities. Hacking can be connected to fun or some kind of challenge, it can be for spying, information gathering, protest, or in some cases it can be for financial gain.

Hackers

The majority of the people think that hackers are nothing but a rogue programmer or a self-taught whiz kid who is very good at programming skills and they can easily modify computer software and hardware. But, this is definitely a narrow view. There can be plenty of reasons behind hacking and hackers are of different types than just a skilled programmer. For a person turning into hacking, there can be plenty of reasons.

But one thing is true hacking is always technical in nature. But it is possible that hackers make use of their psychological skills to attack a user. Tricking can be done by offering some personal data or some kind of malicious attachment. Social engineering is the term used for such kind of tactics.

Hacking Techniques

Hacking is nothing but an over-arching umbrella that includes a number of tactics and activities. Malvertizing and social engineering are two of the main techniques used in hacking. Other than these, there are many other hacking techniques. Some of them are:

Worms
Viruses
Trojans
Rootkits
Ransomeware
Denial of service
Botnets

Types of Hackers or Hacking

There are mainly four reasons behind hacking and hackers attempt to hack computers mostly for these reasons.

The first reason is with some financial gain. Hackers try to hack some information just because they need money from credit or debit cards. Hacking can also happen by defrauding the banking systems.

Hacking can also happen for some reasons like burnishing someone’s reputation. Hackers can do it in many ways and one among them is, leaving something unusual on the website.

Thirdly, being corporate espionage. Competitors can hack information about some companies and use them for their growth.

The fourth reason can be for stealing national or business intelligence. This can be sponsored in many cases and in most the cases it is for good reasons.

Along with these, there is one more category of cybercriminals. These hackers are motivated for some reason like it can be political or social. They are called hacktivists. Through unflattering attention, they want to gain public attention and for that reason, they perform hacking activities.

Mainly there are two types of hackers. One is white hat hackers and the other is gray hat hackers. White hackers are meant to improve the security system by finding and preventing possible threats. But gray hackers utilize their skills and break the systems and this happens without permission.

SEE ALSO :  What Is Ethical Hacking And How Does It Work?

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