Original artwork, not a still
The flying stick figure explaining Python, xkcd #353, "Python" (2007)
I learned it last night! Everything is so simple! ... I just typed import antigravity.
— xkcd · 2005
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
The joke is the pitch every Python convert gives: the language is so readable that leaving other languages feels like leaving the ground. It stuck because the Python team made it literally true, and typing the import in a console is now a rite of passage for new programmers.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for xkcdShow the scene
In xkcd #353, "Python", by Randall Munroe and posted on 5 December 2007, a stick figure floats in the sky above a friend on the ground. Asked how he is flying, he says he learned Python last night and everything is so simple: hello world is a single print line. The friend is doubtful about dynamic typing and whitespace, and the flyer urges him to come up and join, since programming is fun again. Pressed once more, he says he just typed import antigravity, then admits he also sampled the medicine cabinet. Python's developers later added a real antigravity module that opens this comic in a browser.
Sources (2)
- xkcd JSON feed, comic 353transcript and alt fields; 2007-12-05Reference checked
- explain xkcd, 353: PythonExplanation and Trivia sectionsReference checked
Context reviewed
