In this chapter, we discussed what the Python programming language is and how it differs from other languages. We learned how to use it on different operating systems and how to interact with the interactive Python shell. We saw how to comment Python code to provide a better explanation of what the code is doing. Finally, we discussed two alternative Python environments: IPython and the Xonsh shell.

In the next chapter, we will take a look at the Python data types (such as lists, dictionaries, and sets), how these types are used when programming, and how Python modules are imported and utilized to enhance coding projects.