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Netflix: Python programming language is behind every film you stream
The next time you're streaming on Netflix, you can thank popular programming language Python and the developers who use it for much of the experience.
According to Python developers at Netflix, the language is used through the "full content lifecycle", from security tools, to its recommendation algorithms, and its proprietary content distribution network (CDN) Open Connect, which ensures that content is streamed from network devices that are as close as possible to end users.
[...] At Netflix, many of the network devices that make up its CDN are "mostly managed by Python applications", which do tasks like tracking the inventory of network devices, their health and location.
"Python has long been a popular programming language in the networking space because it's an intuitive language that allows engineers to quickly solve networking problems," notes Netflix senior software engineer, Amjith Ramanujam.
The momentum behind the language is driven by useful libraries that get developed, he adds. These include the NumPy and SciPy libraries for Python, which Netflix uses to perform numerical analysis for its failover services. It's also a heavy user of Redis Queue and Jupyter Notebooks tools for Python.
Netflix also uses the Boto 3 AWS SDK for Python configure its AWS infrastructure. Netflix runs on mostly on AWS infrastructure and last year spent $1.3bn on technology and development.
And of course Python is used extensively within Netflix's machine-learning algorithms for things like content recommendations, artwork personalization, and marketing.
(Score: 2) by RamiK on Wednesday May 01 2019, @11:13AM (4 children)
And here I thought HBO has stocks in large screen OLED and VP9 patents or something... Silly me.
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 01 2019, @12:14PM (3 children)
They shot it like that and 8 bit compression made it worse [newatlas.com]
(Score: 3, Interesting) by RamiK on Wednesday May 01 2019, @12:56PM (2 children)
Despite having the subscription I've personally downloaded 8bit and 10bit 1080p versions off TPB and compared on and off OLED and the conclusion I came up with is that the episodes were made specifically to promote 10bit depth streams (VP9 over VP8) AND OLEDs (the dark areas aren't radiating white light).
It's so bad that if I didn't have an OLED screen I'd rather watch it on my smartphone. Indeed there's even a version on TPB that increases the brightness and contrast for people without OLEDs.
Which brings me back to the topic: Here you have all these streaming services using flexible dynamic languages, and none of them thought to pop up a "Would you prefer watching a higher brightness version? It's recommended for non-OLED screens" or such. So, it's not the technology. It's how you use it. And they... They're using it to force me to buy more bandwidth and new hardware.
So, Netflix and co. can take their machine learning python and stick it where the sun don't shine. Aka the latest GoT season.
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 01 2019, @01:45PM
I don't mind.
My rapes and murders come through clear enough.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by chromas on Wednesday May 01 2019, @06:22PM
To be fair, blasting a bunch of light and then blocking what you don't want by twisting it is kind of a shitty technology. LEDs need to stop dicking around and get into all our cheap displays already.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 01 2019, @11:47AM (1 child)
Finally used in a killer app [cnn.com] What do Tesla and Boeing use?
(Score: 4, Funny) by DannyB on Wednesday May 01 2019, @06:34PM
Boeing uses 737 MAX.
Tesla uses self crashing cars.
When trying to solve a problem don't ask who suffers from the problem, ask who profits from the problem.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by maxwell demon on Wednesday May 01 2019, @12:40PM (1 child)
Certainly you can thank the developers for the streaming service; they make the thing work. But the language?
If Python would not have been available, the developers would have used another language to provide the service. And they would most likely have created the very same experience had they been programming it in Perl, PHP, Lisp, or maybe another language that never has been developed because the sweet spot it could have thrived in has already been taken by Python.
And yes, maybe Python made their job a bit easier. Then the developers can thank Python for it. But not the users of the streaming service, just like the user of carpentry products don't thank the drill the carpenter used, even though that drill might have made the job of the carpenter more easy.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 3, Informative) by DannyB on Wednesday May 01 2019, @06:37PM
Twitter switched from Ruby to Java in 2012. Do most people care? Even if they know what Java is?
Most people don't know what a Python is. oh, wait. They think it's something different.
When trying to solve a problem don't ask who suffers from the problem, ask who profits from the problem.
(Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Wednesday May 01 2019, @12:46PM (2 children)
Far as I have heard, the main difference between Python and other languages is the syntax. Much, much less punctuation. No curly braces, no semicolons. Instead, indentation is required.
Seems a feature of most of the "scripting" languages, as they were unfairly derogated, is the built in associative array data type. Another feature is much more flexibility with standard arrays, don't have to figure out a suitable size at the outset and then live with it, like you do in Fortran and C/C++.
But I wonder what else sets Python apart. Distributed computing? Libraries? Any programming language worth a crap has libraries. I mean, come on, why maintain a NumPy and SciPy library, for just one language, why not also have those same libraries for Haskell, Perl, Java, JavaScript, maybe even C++? Perl's distinguishing characteristic is regular expressions. Fortran has a native exponentiation operator, built in trig, and other mathematical functionality. What does Python have?
(Score: 3, Informative) by maxwell demon on Wednesday May 01 2019, @04:02PM (1 child)
I don't consider that term derogatory. A scripting language is just a language with certain properties, like absence of a separate compilation step, execution of commands directly from the global scope, dynamic typing, automatic memory management, suitability for interactive execution, …
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Wednesday May 01 2019, @07:13PM
One of my former employers had this requirement that all programs had to be written in this proprietary language they were using for everything. I was able to dodge that requirement by using bash shell scripting, which management didn't seem to think counted as real programming.
Also, one of the jobs I did with the shells scripts was the installation of the proprietary language. Since the proprietary language was not compiled, it couldn't very well install itself.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 01 2019, @01:32PM (4 children)
Python is the Visual Basic of the new millennia.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 01 2019, @01:43PM (1 child)
I say Python is the new Perl.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 02 2019, @05:58AM
Yep! Javascript is the new Visual Basic.
(Score: 2) by Bot on Wednesday May 01 2019, @02:54PM
Millennia is plural but maybe you are just optimistic about its future.
Account abandoned.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday May 01 2019, @06:39PM
Python is the BASIC of the new Millennials?
When trying to solve a problem don't ask who suffers from the problem, ask who profits from the problem.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday May 02 2019, @02:55AM (1 child)
But what's behind the ones I torrent?
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 3, Touché) by arslan on Thursday May 02 2019, @06:00AM
blockchain!
You had to ask...