Welcome to the Tenth International Python Conference. It's been quite a year! But here we are again, gathered together to show each other our best Python programs, ready to learn from the experts, and eager to hear the latest and greatest Python news. A lot of exciting things are going on this year! Python is stronger than ever on the Web: we have a Zope track as well as a Web Services conference track this year. I also see a lot of cool tools: my personal favorite is PyChecker, a utility that finds bugs in your program before Python finds them.

I'm glad that Python is used in so many different application areas that are not (yet :-) related to the Web, like gaming, education, and computer vision. I also see Python show up more and more in mission-critical situations, both on and off the Web. In other words, Python is growing up, and it's a lot of fun to be part of this development. Have you looked in a technical bookstore lately? The bookstore in my home town now has a whole shelf full of Python books, and from the number of Python books I've reviewed or refereed lately, I expect that soon they'll need a second shelf...

Of course, like any software project, Python itself is never finished. The release of Python 2.2 recently was a big step forward in the language's development -- but it's just another step in the long march to Python 3000, and I'm already looking forward to participating in the debate on Developers' Day about the next steps. At the same time I'm very happy with the way Python 2.2 came out! If you haven't tried it already, I encourage you to download it and

>>> import this

Guido van Rossum
Conference Chair
Tenth International Python Conference