  The use of Python is noticeably growing among the scientific community, and
Astronomy is not an exception. The power of Python consists of being an
extremely versatile high-level language, easy to program that combines both
traditional programming and data reduction and analysis tools. Here I make a
brief introduction to Python, mentioning a few programming practices
implemented in the language and some of its useful features on the process of
data manipulation. I cover in a little more detail the standard scientific
libraries (NumPy and SciPy) for data handling, the graphical library
(Matplotlib), and tools for specific use in astronomy (PyFITS and PyRAF). Good
programming practices and how they are implemented at the language are also
viewed. Python resources and references are mentioned through- out the text for
those who wish to go deeper and make use of the power of the language.
