Question

Is Python strictly interpreted at run time, or can it be used to develop programs that run as background applications (like a Java app or C program)?

Answer 1

There’s multiple questions here:

1. No, Python is not interpreted. The standard implementation compiles to bytecode, and then executes in a virtual machine. Many modern JavaScript engines also do this.
2. Regardless of implementation (interpreter, VM, machine code), anything you want can run in the background. You can run shell scripts in the background, if you want.