Python is by no means a new language - if it were a human it'd be old enough to legally drink. But over the last few years there has been a huge amount of buzz surrounding this high-level programming language. Websites and message boards across the Internet are littered with tips, questions and anecdotes from people who are learning, or already have learned, the language.

But why Python?

I asked this exact question when I was given the opportunity to visit the Quantopian office in downtown Boston. While I was having a discussion about the company's practices and methodologies with its co-founder and CTO, Jean Bredeche, he noted that it had been a fairly simple decision for his company to build their tools using Python. I asked "why?"

In the video below, Bredeche explains his reasoning behind using Python to build his start-up's algorithmic trading platform.

In this video, Bredeche explains his reasoning behind using Python to build his start-ups algorithmic trading platform.

What do you think about Bredeche's answer? Is Python as readable and easy to learn as it is made out to be, or is it just a buzzworthy trend that will fade into obscurity in the next few years? I'd love to hear everyone's opinion, as well as more explanations as to why you chose to (or not to) use Python at your own company.

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