Python is also free and the license allows for it to be integrated with commercial software without the commercial software also having to be made free (i.e. its not a GNU GPL type license).

The main web site for this is www.python.org. Enthought provides a pre-packaged Python installation which includes many additional modules.



Python for Windows, this can be downloaded from SourceForge. If you are using Python on a Windows platform this can be very useful.

wxPython, a cross-platform GUI library based on wxWidgets.

Python Imaging Library, known as PIL, is a very good tool for manipulating bitmap graphics and their files.

NumPy or Numeric modules to support scientific calculations. These can make working with large arrays of data much faster.

PyCrypto (the author's site is here) a good module for working with cryptography, prebuilt binaries are available from Voidspace here.

paramiko a library for working with SSH connections.

tlslite a library for implementing the SSL/TLS protocols in network clients and servers, this is probably being replaced by the enhancements that are being made to the SSL module in Python 2.5 and higher. This available on PyPI here, so it can be installed by doing easy_install tlslite. As an alternative, if you have Visual C++ installed (version 2003 works) then it will build the library that is needed automatically as part of doing the "setup.py install".

My Python programs that you can download from here are:



makeotp.py, a utility to make one time pads to encrypt short pieces of data PictaTrove, a photo sharing web server arcvback, a backup software suite (the Cheeseshop page for it)



Daily Python is a good summary of what's new and neat in the Python community.



The Python Cookbook is a great place to look for recipes. Some of this has been printed in The Python Cookbook (see below). The recipes that I have found interesting are listed here.

