Part 1. Getting started with IronPython

Like all good books, and possibly a few bad ones, this one starts with an introduction. In this section, we cover what IronPython is, how it came into being, and why a language like Python is a big deal for .NET. You’ll also get to use the IronPython interactive interpreter, which is both a powerful tool and a great way of showing off some of the features of Python. Chapter 2 is a swift tutorial for the Python language. It won’t make you a Python master, but it will prepare you for the examples used throughout this book, and serve as a useful reference well beyond. Chapter 3 briefly introduces .NET and then wades into programming with IronPython, taking Windows Forms as the example. While gaining an understanding of concepts essential to any real work with IronPython, you’ll be getting your hands dirty with some real code. First, though, let’s discuss how IronPython fits in with .NET.