what is Python?

Python is an open source programming language. It works on most major operating systems. This language is fully dynamically typed and uses automatic memory management; it is thus similar to Perl, Ruby, Scheme, Smalltalk, and Tcl.
Python is developed as an open source project, managed by the non-profit Python Software Foundation , and is available for free from the project website. Python 2.4.3 was released on March 29, 2006.

advantages of Python

Python is easily integrated with many other programs but it is notable amongst current popular high-level languages for having a philosophy that emphasizes the importance of the programmer over the importance of the computer (so that, for example, code is slower but easier to understand) and for rejecting more arcane language features.
Python is often characterised as minimalistic, though this only applies to the core language's syntax and semantics; the standard libraries provide the language with a large number of additional libraries and extensions.

Curiosity: an important goal of the Python developers is making Python fun to use. This is reflected in the origin of the name (after the television series Monty Python's Flying Circus ), in the common practice of using Monty Python references in example code, and in an occasionally playful approach to tutorials and reference materials. For example, the metasyntactic variables often used in Python literature are spam and eggs, instead of the traditional foo and bar .

(source: Wikipedia )

relevant books about Python

• Python & XML
• Python Developer's Handbook (Other Sams)
• Python Essential Reference (OTHER NEW RIDERS)

• Python
• Wikipedia definition