Python was invented around 1990 by Guido van Rossum when he was at CWI in Amsterdam. Despite the reptiles, it is named after the BBC comedy series Monty Python’s Flying Circus, of which Guido is a fan (see the following silly sidebar). Guido was also involved with the Amoeba distributed operating system and the ABC language. The original motivation for Python was to create an advanced scripting language for the Amoeba system.
Python gets its name from the 1970s British TV comedy series, Monty Python’s Flying Circus. According to Python folklore, Guido van Rossum, Python’s creator, was watching reruns of the show at about the same time he needed a name for a new language he was developing. And, as they say in show business, “the rest is history.”
Because of this heritage, references to the comedy group’s work often show up in examples and discussions. For instance, the name “Spam” has a special connotation to Python users, and confrontations are sometimes referred to as “The Spanish Inquisition.” As a rule, if a Python user starts using phrases that have no relation to reality, they’re probably borrowed from the Monty Python series or movies. Some of these phrases might even pop up in this book. You don’t have to run out and rent The Meaning of Life or The Holy Grail to do useful work in Python, of course, but it can’t hurt.
While “Python” turned out to be a distinctive name, it also had some interesting side effects. For instance, when the Python newsgroup, comp.lang.python came online in 1994, and its first few weeks of activity were almost entirely taken up by people wanting to discuss topics from the TV show. More recently, a special Python supplement in the Linux Journal magazine featured photos of Guido garbed in an obligatory “nice red uniform.”
There’s still an occasional post from fans of the show on Python’s news list. For instance, one poster innocently offered to swap Monty Python scripts with other fans. Had he known the nature of the forum, he might have at least mentioned whether they ran under DOS or Unix.