Python is a general purpose programming language well suited to most tasks.  Python supports both object oriented and procedural programming.  While powerful and robust, Python is both easy to learn and easy to maintain.  Python programmers are highly productive. 

"Many don't admit to using Python; they consider it a competitive advantage."

Table of Contents

Python Jython The case for Python Many users of Python Appropriate Uses Performance Enhancers:   Psyco,   Pyrex. Tutorials Documentation, FAQs, and Papers Books Important links IDEs Useful extensions and tools

"And Now for Something Completely Different..."

 

Python is often referred to as a scripting language, perhaps because it is well suited to system administration tasks as are Perl and Tcl.  ...but the simularity ends there. 

Python supports modules, classes, dynamic typing, threading, high level dynamic data types (e.g. lists and dictionaries), regular expressions, and exceptions.  It has interfaces to many system calls and libraries, as well as to various windowing systems (e.g. wx, Tk, MFC, Mac, X11), and is extensible in C or C++.  It can be used as an extension language for applications that need a programmable interface. 

Python is an Open Source language and Free. 

And, Python is portable; it runs on Linux, UNIX, Macintosh (OS8, OS9 and OSX), all versions of Windows, OS/2, Palm, S/390 VM-Linux, and more.  Python works well with COM+, supports .Net, and there is a Visual Studio plug-in for Python.

More at: http://www.python.org

 

Jython is an implementation of the Python programming language designed to run on the Java platform (JVM).  It consists of a compiler to compile Python source code to Java bytecodes which can run directly on a JVM.  Jython can import and use any Java class or class library.  And, classes written in Python can be accessed from Java. 

Here is how to use Python, Jython & Java together, and a simple Java - Jython - Python comparison.

More at: http://www.jython.org