Python is one of the most popular programming languages (especially in the data science community) and consistently leads to different indexes and surveys. In fact, recently, Python won the prestigious TIOBE Programming Language of the Year award (2021) for the second time in a row. In the State of Data Science report 2021 by Anaconda, Inc., 63% of said they always or frequently use Python. The survey also showed that 71% of educators are teaching Python, and 88% of students reported being taught Python to enter the data science and machine learning domain.
Image: Anaconda | State of Data Science 2021
“Democratize” Python and data science
But Python can be used by non-programmers too, where its applications can spread beyond data science-related problems. Anaconda, Inc. has been taking steps to “democratise” the accessibility to the language, it claims. In order to achieve this, the latest move from the company includes the acquisition of PythonAnywhere, a cloud-based Python development and hosting environment. PythonAnywhere allows Python developers to just create web applications within a cloud-based Python environment. This can provide great ease in collaborating and sharing within dispersed teams in today’s work scenarios.
Anaconda, Inc. was founded by Peter Wang and Travis Oliphant a decade back. It is behind the release of Anaconda, a distribution of the Python and R programming languages for data science, machine learning, predictive analytics, etc.
Peter Wang, CEO and co-founder of Anaconda, observes that for Python to maintain the growth it has seen as well as remain the most widely used data science programming language in the world, it will be important to improve its accessibility and remove the barriers to collaboration. This acquisition of PythonAnywhere will allow Anaconda to extend its services to all Python developers while building on capabilities for data scientists, engineers, data science enthusiasts, and students, he adds.
PythonAnywhere: Host, run and code Python in Cloud
PythonAnywhere was founded in 2012 by Giles Thomas and Robert Smithson and is based out of the United Kingdom. It is an online integrated development environment (IDE) and web-hosting service based on the Python language.
- PythonAnywhere comes with features like syntax-highlighting, error-checking editor, Python 2 and 3 consoles, and a full set of batteries (view them here). The issues that come with getting Python installed on each member’s laptop can be avoided here while everyone can pip install all the right packages. This ensures better collaboration.
- One can just write the application, and there is no need to configure or maintain a web server as everything is set up and ready to go.
- If the user has a browser and an Internet connection, that is enough, informs PythonAnywhere. “PythonAnywhere runs on our servers and displays in your web browser; you can write Python applications from your iPad, phone, or smart TV just as easily as you can from your computer”, says the firm. It is in beta for Android devices.
The basic accounts are free, and the company charges for advanced services such as professional web app hosting, etc.
The transition from desktop to cloud
Just some time back, Anaconda, at PyCon US 2022, introduced us to PyScript, which received much appreciation. PyScript allows users to create Python applications in the browser by using a mix of Python with standard HTML. It allows a user to run many popular packages of Python and the scientific stack, like NumPy, pandas, scikit-learn, etc. It will also provide bi-directional communication between Python and JavaScript objects and namespaces. Some even hailed PyScript as being able to replace Javascript and its wide usage.
PyScript provides greater flexibility around what job users can do in back-end vs front-end development. Similarly, PythonAnywhere provides Python developers greater flexibility around where they do their job – desktop vs cloud. It seems like the two announcements back to back in a short span of time are quite strategic from Anaconda’s point of view. The two work in sync to work on Anaconda’s objective to move Python just beyond data science and increase its use among non-programmers too.
