Python

Python is very easy to learn and use, one of the easiest of all programming languages. Even if you have not programmed in Python before, you shouldn't have much trouble picking it up quickly. I'll let you absorb it mostly through examples. There are two traps, however - one mildly unusual, the other severely annoying:
  • indentation in programs is an important part of their structure;
  • division of integers is true integer division: 5/4 = 1, -3/2 = -2, 1/2 = 0. It is this last that will cause much trouble. Usually, write 1/2.0 or 1/float(2).

There are a few other quirky features of the language. Some of these have been fixed in version 3 of Python, but the version you want this version 2, it's much more, really much more, loveable. You might want to skim quickly one of the appendices to the manual for PiScript:

And if you need Python help, Google is probably your best bet. For example, if you want to know about the atan function in Python, Google python atan.