Python is great because it includes an interactive mode for learning the language and quickly testing out code ideas. IPython ...

IPython community leaders Fernando Perez and Brian Granger, will lead a 3-hour IPython tutorial where attendees will use IPython’s various components to assemble interactive data projects in Python.

IPython Console - this is a powerful interactive Python shell. For example, it makes system commands available directly and it allows you to see plots inline. There are many good features of IPython.