---
title: "Which came first, Python or Mario?"
description: "Python vs Mario: Mario came first, by 10 years — 1981 against 1991. What happened in each case, and why the dates are often given differently."
url: https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/python-vs-super-mario/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Which came first, Python or Mario?

**Which came first, Python or Mario?: Mario**

1981 — 10 years before Python

Mario came first, by 10 years. Mario debuted as "Jumpman" in the arcade game Donkey Kong.

## Side by side

|  | Python | Mario |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Year | 1991 | 1981 |
| Date | 1991-02-20 | — |
| Category | technology | media |
| What happened | Guido van Rossum released version 0.9.0 publicly. | Mario debuted as "Jumpman" in the arcade game Donkey Kong. |

## Python

Python was started as a hobby project over Christmas 1989 and first released publicly in February 1991 — four years before Java, JavaScript, PHP and Ruby, all of which arrived in 1995. Most people assume it is much newer because its popularity arrived twenty years after it did. It is named after Monty Python, not the snake.

## Mario

Mario first appeared in Donkey Kong in 1981, credited as Jumpman, four years before Super Mario Bros. of 1985 made him a household name. He wears a cap because animating hair at that resolution was impossible, and dungarees because they made his arm movements legible against his body — the design is entirely a consequence of an 16×16 pixel sprite.

## Common questions

### Which came first, Python or Mario?

Mario, by 10 years — 1981 against 1991.

### When did Python start?

1991. Guido van Rossum released version 0.9.0 publicly.

### When did Mario start?

1981. Mario debuted as "Jumpman" in the arcade game Donkey Kong.

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## Sources

- Wikidata — Wikimedia Foundation (https://www.wikidata.org/) [CC0 1.0]