Python

Below applies to Python 2.6 or lower, Python 3 is a good bit different.

Python is an object oriented, interpreted language. It is unique in that it requires a user to indent in place of using curly brackets ({..}).

Note: that most *nix distributions come with Python by default.

Basic python syntax

>>> print "HELLO WORLD!"
HELLO WORLD!

Variable names DO NOT need to begin with a special character, unlike PHP. Variable names CAN, however, be any combination, as long as the word isn't reserved (Ex: and, or, print), of letters and numbers.

>>> #Numbers
>>> a = 1 #Declare A as 1
>>> b = a+5 #b becomes 6, while a remains 1
>>> a += 5 #a is overwritten, and becomes 6
>>> c = b = a #c and b are overwritten and become 6
>>> #Strings
>>> a = "Hello "
>>> b = "There"
>>> c = a+b #JOIN STRINGS
>>> a = "Blue Yellow Green Red".split(" ") #Split the string at every " "
>>> a #Output 'a' to the screen, same as print or print()
['Blue', 'Yellow', 'Green', 'Red'] #List object, another type of variable
>>> .join(a) #Join all the list objects as one
'BlueYellowGreenRed'
>>> a = 'Blue Green Yellow Red'[0:4] #This returns the sub-string 'Blue'
>>> a = 'Blue Green Yellow Red'[5:] #This returns the sub-string 'Green Yellow Red'
>>> a = 'a = 'Blue Green Yellow Red'[::2] #This returns the sub-string Bu re elwRd'
>>> #Float 
>>> a = 88.2
>>> b = 88
>>> print a/25
3.528
>>> print b/25
3
>>> #Other types
>>> a = (" ", 355, 256.7, ["Hello", "World"])
>>> type(a)
<type 'tuple'>
>>> a = {"Hello":"World", "Key":"Value"}
>>> type(a)
<type 'dict'>
>>> a = "Anhero"
>>> del a #Its a good idea, if you're making a 'hidden' script, to delete variables after you use them...

<       Less than
>       Greater than
==      Equal to
!=      Not equal
is      Identical
is not  Not identical
<=      Less than or equal to
>=      Greater than or equal to

>>> a = 1
>>> b = 2
>>> if a != b:
	print "No!"

No!

>>> a = 1
>>> b = 1
>>> if a == b:
	print "Yes!"

	
Yes!
>>> a = 1
>>> b = 5
>>> if (a == b-len("....")/1) and "a" == "a" or "b" == "b":
	print "Yes!"

Yes!

>>> a = 1
>>> while a < 5: #Note, replacing '<' with '<=' allows it to reach 5, instead of stopping at 4
print a
a += 1;

1
2
3
4
>>> a = False;
>>> while a == False:
print "False"
a = True;
 
	
False

>>> for x in range(0, 10):
	print x

	
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

consider using xrange when dealing with larger lists, as it creates an iterator, rather than constructing the full list in memory

>>> for x in ['Hello', 'world', ',this', 'is', 'a', 'list']:
print x

 	
Hello
world
,this
is
a
list