Python

Python is a scripting language with a large amount of support among open source developers.  First created in 1991, Python remained a niche language that was popular for mathematical tasks for years. The breakout of Ruby as a new, popular language in the early 2000's gave Python a second chance as part of the open source stack for online web applications.  Its clean syntax has made it popular among beginning programmers, making Python experience much more common among accomplished software developers.  Like Node and PHP, it has a vast library of functionality available from open source projects made available with PIP, the Python Package Index.

Django is one of Python's most popular web frameworks and can be found in many web apps.  It is at the heart of CMS apps like Mezzanine and django CMS Django is a mature framework that contains a built in ORM library, a migration system and a configurable admin tool that makes building a website or service fast and efficient.  Once you have a solid foundation built with Django, adding your specific features on top can be done in a clean and well structured way.

If you aren't looking for a large framework and want an agile micro-framework, Flask or FastAPI has a minimalist design that is well-suited for REST back ends and small sites. FastAPI has a web socket component that allows us to construct real-time web front ends for you that run and update faster than normal web-based back ends. Python's history with math and science means you also get access to some of the most cutting edge features like AI and machine learning tools. The TensorFlow and PyTorch AI/ML libraries are written in Python. Many of these libraries hook in directly to functionality made with compiled code that allows your application to scale under high loads.

Advantages

Python's syntax is clean and well structured code is enforced with the language's native format.  While other languages like PHP and Javascript can appear wildly different from developer to developer, Python projects can be picked up and worked on by many different teams easily. Standards like PEP8 build on this natural standard and enforce even cleaner coding standards.

Python is one of the most mature and widely-supported development stacks available at the moment. Projects available for use have a long history of support, bug fixes and work across Windows, OSX and Linux. Cloud services like Azure and AWS can be spun up and start serving Python based services in minutes.

Risks

One of the reasons Python is Parthenon's favorite development stack is the few risks you take by using it for web based services. There is no real risk to choosing Python unless it is not the best fit for your project environment.