Popular Applications Built with Python

Python is a versatile programming language used to build a vast range of applications, from popular consumer apps and websites to complex scientific and enterprise software. Its simplicity and extensive library ecosystem make it suitable for almost any type of development. 

Popular Applications Built with Python

Many widely used real-world applications and services incorporate Python into their technology stack. 

Instagram: Uses Python and the Django framework for its backend services, powering one of the largest social media platforms in the world.

Spotify: Employs Python for a large portion of its backend services and data analysis, which helps power music recommendations.

Netflix: Uses Python throughout its content lifecycle, from deciding which content to fund to operating the content delivery network (CDN).

Google: Python has been an important part of Google since its beginning and is used by dozens of Google engineers for various systems.

YouTube: Uses Python for multiple purposes, including video administration, template control, and data access, citing its speed of development and maintainability.

Reddit: The social news aggregator was rewritten in Python in 2005, leveraging the language's readability and wide array of libraries.

Dropbox: The cloud file hosting service was built using Python for everything, valuing its readability and cross-platform support.

Uber: Python is one of the primary languages powering Uber's backend services. 

Common Use Cases

Python's flexibility allows it to be used across a variety of domains: 

Web Development: Frameworks like Django, Flask, and Pyramid provide robust tools for building web applications and content management systems.

Data Science and Machine Learning (AI/ML): Python is a dominant language in this field, with libraries such as NumPy, Pandas, TensorFlow, and PyTorch used for data analysis, visualization, and creating AI models.

Scientific and Numeric Computing: Libraries like SciPy and Matplotlib are used in mathematics, science, and engineering for complex calculations and plotting.

Software Development/Automation: It is used as a support language for build control, testing, bug tracking (e.g., Trac), and general system administration tasks.

Desktop GUIs: Libraries such as Tkinter, PyQt, and Kivy enable the creation of cross-platform desktop and multi-touch applications.

Game Development: Python is used in the development of popular games like The Sims 4 and Battlefield 2, often as a scripting language.

Business Applications: It is used to build enterprise resource planning (ERP) and e-commerce systems, such as Odoo and Tryton. 

Typescript vs Javascript

 

TypeScript and JavaScript are closely related, but they solve slightly different problems. Choosing between them depends on project size, team, and how much safety you want in your code.

Core difference

TypeScript is a superset of JavaScript that adds a static type system and extra language features, and then compiles down to plain JavaScript. JavaScript is a dynamically typed scripting language that runs directly in browsers and in environments like Node.js without a separate compilation step.

Typing and error checking

JavaScript is dynamically typed, so type errors are only caught at runtime, which can lead to bugs appearing in production if tests miss them. TypeScript adds optional static typing, catching many type-related errors during development/compilation and making large codebases safer and easier to refactor. 

Features and tooling

TypeScript introduces features such as interfaces, generics, access modifiers, decorators, and strong type inference on top of standard JavaScript syntax. Because of types, editors and IDEs can provide richer autocompletion, navigation, and refactoring tools in TypeScript projects than in plain JavaScript.

Learning curve and setup

JavaScript is easier to start with: it has no build step by default and is widely taught as the first web language. TypeScript requires learning type syntax and setting up a compile step (for example with tsc, webpack, or a framework), which adds complexity but pays off more as the project grows.

Typical use cases

JavaScript is well-suited for small scripts, quick prototypes, and simple websites where development speed and minimal tooling matter most. TypeScript is especially useful for large applications, team projects, and enterprise codebases (frontend or backend) where maintainability, refactoring, and early error detection are priorities.

When should I choose TypeScript over JavaScript

TypeScript is most valuable when your codebase is big, long-lived, or maintained by multiple developers. In small, short-term projects, plain JavaScript is often enough.

Large and long-term projects

Choose TypeScript when the project is meant to grow over time (enterprise apps, SaaS products, internal platforms) rather than a one-off script or landing page. Static typing makes refactoring and adding features safer as the codebase gets larger. TypeScript’s type system helps catch regressions early, which is crucial for long-lived applications where requirements frequently change.

Teams and collaboration

Use TypeScript when multiple developers work on the same code, especially across squads or time zones. Types act as living documentation, clarifying data structures and APIs without reading every implementation. This shared “contract” reduces miscommunication, speeds onboarding, and improves productivity in big teams.

Reliability and domain complexity

Pick TypeScript when bugs are costly (fintech, healthcare, enterprise systems) or the business logic is complex. Static typing catches mismatched data shapes and wrong function calls at build time instead of in production. For apps that integrate many APIs or microservices, typed interfaces dramatically reduce subtle integration errors.

Tooling, IDE help, and refactoring

Choose TypeScript if you rely heavily on IDE features like autocompletion, jump-to-definition, and safe automated refactors. Types give editors precise information, making navigation and refactoring far more reliable than in untyped JavaScript. This becomes increasingly important as your project structure and number of modules grow.

When JavaScript is still better

Plain JavaScript fits quick prototypes, small utilities, throwaway scripts, or very simple websites where setup time and speed matter more than long-term safety. For experiments, MVPs, or when collaborators are beginners who first need to grasp core JS, JavaScript can be the pragmatic starting point, with the option to migrate to TypeScript later.