Steve Williams said that Python is an open source language that may be viewed and downloaded from python.org. This website will start you in different directions depending on your wishes.

From that website:

What is Python?
Python is an interpreted, interactive, object-oriented programming language. It is often compared to Tcl, Perl, Scheme or Java.

Python combines remarkable power with very clear syntax. It has modules, classes, exceptions, very high level dynamic data types, and dynamic typing. There are interfaces to many system calls and libraries, as well as to various windowing systems (X11, Motif, Tk, Mac, MFC). New built-in modules are easily written in C or C++. Python is also usable as an extension language for applications that need a programmable interface.

The Python implementation is portable: it runs on many brands of UNIX, on Windows, OS/2, Mac, Amiga, and many other platforms. If your favorite system isn't listed here, it may still be supported if there's a C compiler for it. Ask around on news:comp.lang.python -- or just try compiling Python yourself.

The Python implementation is copyrighted but freely usable and distributable, even for commercial use.

"Python - why settle for snake oil when you can have the whole snake?" --From Usenet posting by Mark Jackson, June 1998

Going back to Mr. Williams presentation, he said that Python has been around since 1990. Guido van Rossum was the originator of the language. Comp.lang.python is an informative newsgroup where the people on it are generally friendly and willing to provide information. Python uses white spaces for delimiters and this has led to some discussions with C programmers who wondered why specific delimiters were not used. Python programmers answered that they didn’t believe they were necessary or desirable.

Mr. Williams presented as his first example some simple code to create a list.

He said that b=a is a copy operation in most languages but not in Python. In python b is bound to a as an object and this sometimes causes confusion for new Python programmers. He provided a demonstration of how this worked. Also, Python is a garbage collection language; when all of the references to an object go away, the space is removed. You don’t have to worry about managing storage with it.

Next, Mr. Williams presented a code example showing lists, how to import a database, and demonstrated connections. He remarked that Python is very backward compatible with earlier versions of the language. Python makes extensive use of exceptions. Mr. Williams provided a sample program using a script. He said Python is a simple language if you stay in a constrained area, and you can start being productive after about 1 hour. He provided a second example that provided an overall picture of a complex process to control a data warehouse in considerable detail.

You can get information on GUI applications at wxpython.org. From that website:

Welcome to the home of wxPython, a blending of the wxWidgets C++ class library with the Python programming language.

What is wxPython?
wxPython is a GUI toolkit for the Python programming language. It allows Python programmers to create programs with a robust, highly functional graphical user interface, simply and easily. It is implemented as a Python extension module (native code) that wraps the popular wxWidgets cross platform GUI library, which is written in C++

Like Python and wxWidgets, wxPython is Open Source which means that it is free for anyone to use, and the source code is available for anyone to look at and modify. Anyone can contribute fixes or enhancements to the project.

wxPython is a cross-platform toolkit. This means that the same program will run on multiple platforms without modification. Currently supported platforms are 32-bit Microsoft Windows, most Unix or unix-like systems, and Macintosh OS X. Since the language is Python, wxPython programs are simple, easy to write and easy to understand.

Going back to Mr. Williams’ presentation he remarked that wxPython has a rather steep learning curve but is very useful. His third example demonstrated a list with data tables that provided examples of the code and a range of outputs. There are other methods besides wxPython, but he likes it because it is faster than some of the others.

Steve Williams may be contacted at 562-691-4570 or by email: stevewilliams@wwc.com

You can get the background on Python from the listed websites as well as an extremely large amount of detailed information and downloadable items of this open source software. This was definitely a programmer oriented meeting that emphasized demonstrations and display of programs, not something you can get at all by reading this DATA-LINK report. Mr. Williams demonstrated how to use Python in a clear and understandable way so that his presentation was both an informative explanation as to why someone who was not using Python might want to use this language and a guide to users on how they might make use of it.