Technology
Python
Python is for the work that happens off the request: imports, reports, a model, a one-off migration. The site stays on the web stack.
What it is
Python is a general-purpose language known for being readable, for a huge library ecosystem, and for sitting under a lot of data, science, and back-end work. Django and Flask built a generation of web products. Pandas, NumPy, and PyTorch built a generation of analysis and models.
It is not the language of the browser. It is the language of APIs, jobs, notebooks, scraping, and training. Instagram famously ran on Django. A lot of the AI stack you call from a web app was trained and served with Python somewhere in the chain.
What it does
Teams use Python for APIs, data pipelines, machine learning, automation, and internal tools. It is a default in research, finance, and any brief that has a model or a warehouse next to the website.
We use it when the job is a service, a job runner, or a notebook that has to become a product. The site in front can still be TypeScript. Python does not have to own the pixels.
Why we use it
Scripts, models, and the jobs a page should not do.
Jobs, notebooks, and small services with clear inputs. When a script proves it is weekly, it becomes a button in the tool. The public interface stays the site we designed. The repo holds the script so you can run it without us.
If it is going to run every Monday, it should not live in someone's downloads folder.
Built on it
Built on Django, still one of the largest Python web applications.
Spotify
Uses Python extensively in data, recommendations, and back-end services.
Dropbox
A well-known Python shop for the sync engine and many services.
NASA
Scientific computing and mission tools have a long Python lineage.
YouTube
The early web stack was Python, and it still sits in parts of Google's video work.
Tell us what needs to ship.
You use a working prototype before the production build goes ahead.