History of the Python Programming Language

Python is a programming language that was created in 1989 by Dutch computer scientist Guido van Rossum. Van Rossum drew inspiration from the ABC programming language, which he had worked on in the preceding years, to create a new scripting language that would simplify code writing and be easy to learn.

From ABC, van Rossum incorporated indentation to denote nested blocks of code without the use of curly braces, and the ability to use variables without declaration. This made coding simpler and more intuitive.

The interpreter for this new scripting language was written in the C language.

Van Rossum named it "Python" after his favorite television series, "Monty Python's Flying Circus."

Here are some important milestones in the history of the Python language:

1. In 1990, van Rossum completed the first implementation of the interpreter.
2. In 1991, the first public version of Python was released (version 0.9.0).
3. In 1994, the major version Python 1.0 was released
4. In 1994, the first Python discussion group was created: comp.lang.python
5. In 1995, the official Python website, www.python.org, was launched.

   Note. During those years, Python was developed, maintained, and released by a group of people coordinated by Guido van Rossum. Van Rossum reserved the right to have the final say on all decisions regarding the Python language and its standard library. For this reason, in 1995, he was given the title of Benevolent Dictator For Life (BDFL).

6. In 2000, the major version Python 2.0 was released.
7. In 2001, the Python Software Foundation (PSF) was founded, a non-profit organization that still holds the copyright of the Python language and promotes its distribution. The PSF is chaired by Guido van Rossum and the developers who have contributed the most to the language's development..
8. In 2008, the major version Python 3.0 was released.

Over the years, Python has become very popular due to its simplicity, flexibility, vast standard library, and large community of developers who use and support it. This has made Python a dynamic and ever-changing programming language.

Every year, several minor changes to the language are released, known as minor versions. For example, versions 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, and 3.4 are different versions of Python 3.

Note. Proposals for changes to the language are collected in the Python Enhancement Proposal (PEP) and then discussed by the developer community before being approved or rejected by Guido van Rossum.

Periodically, major changes to the Python language are also released, known as major versions.

In this case, the initial number of the version changes. For example, versions 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0 are currently the three major versions of Python.

Note. Retrocompatibility is not guaranteed between major versions. Therefore, code written in Python 2 may not work in Python 3. Conversely, retrocompatibility is always guaranteed within minor versions (e.g., 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, etc.).