Develop Reference

What's a good resource to build my first python project?

I'm tired of books and tutorials who walk me through how to print things before I can do anything fun. I want to build simple apps or programs. Any suggestions for where to start so I can make and learn at the same time?

If you're just looking for something to do that will challenge you to start actually using Python rather than reading about it, try the Ruby Quiz. You don't have to use Ruby to create solutions.
Each quiz is a problem that can be scripted (using any language, really). Ideally it'll force you to apply the concepts you've been reading about to "real life" problems.

If you are tired of tutorials, then just start building something. Anything. If you get stuck, glance back over the tutorials, or consult the documentation. I'm a big fan of learning by doing.
A short list of options from off the top of my head:
If you're into web development, Django is a popular python web framework that is very well documented. The Blog app is a popular starting point.
Python itself is pretty well documented. If you're a complete beginner to python AND programming in general, you may want to try something less complex. Pick a random task and try to do it using python:
Read and print the ID3 tags from all your mp3 files using mutagen.
List or download your email using the python imaplib or poplib modules.
Write a zip/unzip utility using zipfile.
Don't be in too much of a hurry, and be realistic. Unless you've got a pile of programming under your belt, you won't be able to jump into a complex project after reading a few tutorials. Patience and practice will get you to the place where you can tackle really interesting projects. Impatience will merely lead to frustration.

Might i suggest pygame http://www.pygame.org/news.html ? If you want to do things with visuals, your not going to get anywhere with the default python modules unless, of course you know how to implement SDL. As stated above in the comments, the tutorials are there for a reason; although they are simple, they are meant to teach you the basics and perhaps, have you think about ideas of implementing such given tools to larger projects. Give pygame I try. You can create a window with lines and shapes in a little as ~10 lines. From there you can expand your knowledge to Object-Oriented programming(which a must for UI) and be on your way to larger projects such as AI, graphics, etc.
P.S. Check this book out http://apress.com/book/view/1590598725. Although you might not want to get into game development, it will teach you some rather useful techniques which may help your research in application development.

Once I know the basic elements and syntax of Python, what should I do?

Well, I have read several user guides and watched dozens and dozens of video tutorials on how to program with Python, and feel pretty confident about writing simple applications for it. My main point in my question is, where would I be able to learn more advanced programming knowledge about Python?

How simple of applications are you making? Have you gone through the exercises in Google's Python Class? I highly recommend going through those. If you really know what you are doing, you should breeze through them. If not, then you'll be learning some valuable skills and becoming a little more experienced in Python.
After that, it depends on what your end goals are with Python. If you don't have any goals then you should work on setting some goals and making some small applications to develop your skills in the areas that go well with those goals.
Also, a good way to learn more about Python is to try to answer the questions posted on here about Python. Even if you don't find the best answer, reading other people's answers will help you as well as the process of trying to find the answer.

You could try something like Python Cookbook or Python Challenge.
But your question is a little too vague. Why did you learn Python? What kind of problems are you looking at solving? Based on the answer to that, I can direct you to various modules like os, sys, Tkinter, etc

You have given yourself an answer:
and feel pretty confident about
writing simple applications for it
go ahead and write more complex applications!
The issue here is that you do not feel challenged, and you assume that you are done with your basic learning. Just find what to do! Simplify a process (say, file management), retrieve data from Internet (say, the last 25 twitter posts about Python), consolidate your mail clients into a single command line application, etc.
The MOST productive thing you could do (assuming you really don't have problems of your own), is to find an open source Python project (say, Matplotlib) and become a contributor. You will quickly realize that Python is beautiful, but it is a beast nevertheless.
If you still feel unchallenged, contact me and I will send you a ton of stuff to code which, believe me, is not easy.
Good luck!

my favorite way in learning python is ( learning through projects ).
put yourself a goal , like a software for example ( 6 years ago when i started to learn python i picked a messenger . so i had to read more about sockets, network programming , and interfaces libraries ) . start with it , look for examples and resources to learn more . then do it.
the key is NOT TO GIVE UP and keep trying and searching until you make it .
. this can be fastest and the most efficient way in learning any programming language .
good luck ;)

If you like puzzles, you might check out Project Euler. It has a variety of interesting puzzles (some easy, some much harder) that take some logic and programming to solve. (Often you have to find a clever way to solve them, since brute-force methods will take forever.)
If you're at all interested in web development you might look into Django. It's a very nice web framework that lets you use Python; it's mature and quite powerful.
I also second Arrieta's suggestion of finding an open-source Python project and looking into getting involved. You can find a list of such projects on GitHub, freshmeat, and SourceForge, among others.

Python progression path - From apprentice to guru

Locked. This question and its answers are locked because the question is off-topic but has historical significance. It is not currently accepting new answers or interactions.
I've been learning, working, and playing with Python for a year and a half now. As a biologist slowly making the turn to bio-informatics, this language has been at the very core of all the major contributions I have made in the lab. I more or less fell in love with the way Python permits me to express beautiful solutions and also with the semantics of the language that allows such a natural flow from thoughts to workable code.
What I would like to know is your answer to a kind of question I have seldom seen in this or other forums. This question seems central to me for anyone on the path to Python improvement but who wonders what his next steps should be.
Let me sum up what I do NOT want to ask first ;)
I don't want to know how to QUICKLY learn Python
Nor do I want to find out the best way to get acquainted with the language
Finally, I don't want to know a 'one trick that does it all' approach.
What I do want to know your opinion about, is:
What are the steps YOU would recommend to a Python journeyman, from apprenticeship to guru status (feel free to stop wherever your expertise dictates it), in order that one IMPROVES CONSTANTLY, becoming a better and better Python coder, one step at a time. Some of the people on SO almost seem worthy of worship for their Python prowess, please enlighten us :)
The kind of answers I would enjoy (but feel free to surprise the readership :P ), is formatted more or less like this:
Read this (eg: python tutorial), pay attention to that kind of details
Code for so manytime/problems/lines of code
Then, read this (eg: this or that book), but this time, pay attention to this
Tackle a few real-life problems
Then, proceed to reading Y.
Be sure to grasp these concepts
Code for X time
Come back to such and such basics or move further to...
(you get the point :)
I really care about knowing your opinion on what exactly one should pay attention to, at various stages, in order to progress CONSTANTLY (with due efforts, of course). If you come from a specific field of expertise, discuss the path you see as appropriate in this field.
EDIT: Thanks to your great input, I'm back on the Python improvement track! I really appreciate!

I thought the process of Python mastery went something like:
Discover list comprehensions
Discover generators
Incorporate map, reduce, filter, iter, range, xrange often into your code
Discover Decorators
Write recursive functions, a lot
Discover itertools and functools
Read Real World Haskell (read free online)
Rewrite all your old Python code with tons of higher order functions, recursion, and whatnot.
Annoy your cubicle mates every time they present you with a Python class. Claim it could be "better" implemented as a dictionary plus some functions. Embrace functional programming.
Rediscover the Strategy pattern and then all those things from imperative code you tried so hard to forget after Haskell.
Find a balance.

One good way to further your Python knowledge is to dig into the source code of the libraries, platforms, and frameworks you use already.
For example if you're building a site on Django, many questions that might stump you can be answered by looking at how Django implements the feature in question.
This way you'll continue to pick up new idioms, coding styles, and Python tricks. (Some will be good and some will be bad.)
And when you see something Pythony that you don't understand in the source, hop over to the #python IRC channel and you'll find plenty of "language lawyers" happy to explain.
An accumulation of these little clarifications over years leads to a much deeper understanding of the language and all of its ins and outs.

Understand (more deeply) Python's data types and their roles with regards to memory mgmt
As some of you in the community are aware, I teach Python courses, the most popular ones being the comprehensive Intro+Intermediate course as well as an "advanced" course which introduces a variety of areas of application development.
Quite often, I get asked a question quite similar to, "Should I take your intro or advanced course? I've already been programming Python for 1-2 years, and I think the intro one is too simple for me so I'd like to jump straight to the advanced... which course would you recommend?"
To answer their question, I probe to see how strong they are in this area -- not that it's really the best way to measure whether they're ready for any advanced course, but to see how well their basic knowledge is of Python's objects and memory model, which is a cause of many Python bugs written by those who are not only beginners but those who have gone beyond that.
To do this, I point them at this simple 2-part quiz question:
Many times, they are able to get the output, but the why is more difficult and much more important of an response... I would weigh the output as 20% of the answer while the "why" gets 80% credit. If they can't get the why, regardless how Python experience they have, I will always steer people to the comprehensive intro+intermediate course because I spend one lecture on objects and memory management to the point where you should be able to answer with the output and the why with sufficient confidence. (Just because you know Python's syntax after 1-2 years doesn't make you ready to move beyond a "beginner" label until you have a much better understanding as far as how Python works under the covers.)
A succeeding inquiry requiring a similar answer is even tougher, e.g.,
Example 3
x = ['foo', [1,2,3], 10.4]
y = list(x) # or x[:]
y[0] = 'fooooooo'
y[1][0] = 4
print x
print y
The next topics I recommend are to understanding reference counting well, learning what "interning" means (but not necessarily using it), learning about shallow and deep copies (as in Example 3 above), and finally, the interrelationships between the various types and constructs in the language, i.e. lists vs. tuples, dicts vs. sets, list comprehensions vs. generator expressions, iterators vs. generators, etc.; however all those other suggestions are another post for another time. Hope this helps in the meantime! :-)
ps. I agree with the other responses for getting more intimate with introspection as well as studying other projects' source code and add a strong "+1" to both suggestions!
pps. Great question BTW. I wish I was smart enough in the beginning to have asked something like this, but that was a long time ago, and now I'm trying to help others with my many years of full-time Python programming!!

Check out Peter Norvig's essay on becoming a master programmer in 10 years: http://norvig.com/21-days.html. I'd wager it holds true for any language.

Understand Introspection
write a dir() equivalent
write a type() equivalent
figure out how to "monkey-patch"
use the dis module to see how various language constructs work
Doing these things will
give you some good theoretical knowledge about how python is implemented
give you some good practical experience in lower-level programming
give you a good intuitive feel for python data structures

def apprentice():
read(diveintopython)
experiment(interpreter)
read(python_tutorial)
experiment(interpreter, modules/files)
watch(pycon)
def master():
refer(python-essential-reference)
refer(PEPs/language reference)
experiment()
read(good_python_code) # Eg. twisted, other libraries
write(basic_library) # reinvent wheel and compare to existing wheels
if have_interesting_ideas:
give_talk(pycon)
def guru():
pass # Not qualified to comment. Fix the GIL perhaps?

I'll give you the simplest and most effective piece of advice I think anybody could give you: code.
You can only be better at using a language (which implies understanding it) by coding. You have to actively enjoy coding, be inspired, ask questions, and find answers by yourself.
Got a an hour to spare? Write code that will reverse a string, and find out the most optimum solution. A free evening? Why not try some web-scraping. Read other peoples code. See how they do things. Ask yourself what you would do.
When I'm bored at my computer, I open my IDE and code-storm. I jot down ideas that sound interesting, and challenging. An URL shortener? Sure, I can do that. Oh, I learnt how to convert numbers from one base to another as a side effect!
This is valid whatever your skill level. You never stop learning. By actively coding in your spare time you will, with little additional effort, come to understand the language, and ultimately, become a guru. You will build up knowledge and reusable code and memorise idioms.

If you're in and using python for science (which it seems you are) part of that will be learning and understanding scientific libraries, for me these would be
numpy
scipy
matplotlib
mayavi/mlab
chaco
Cython
knowing how to use the right libraries and vectorize your code is essential for scientific computing.
I wanted to add that, handling large numeric datasets in common pythonic ways(object oriented approaches, lists, iterators) can be extremely inefficient. In scientific computing, it can be necessary to structure your code in ways that differ drastically from how most conventional python coders approach data.

Google just recently released an online Python class ("class" as in "a course of study").
http://code.google.com/edu/languages/google-python-class/
I know this doesn't answer your full question, but I think it's a great place to start!

Download Twisted and look at the source code. They employ some pretty advanced techniques.

Thoroughly Understand All Data Types and Structures
For every type and structure, write a series of demo programs that exercise every aspect of the type or data structure. If you do this, it might be worthwhile to blog notes on each one... it might be useful to lots of people!

I learned python first by myself over a summer just by doing the tutorial on the python site (sadly, I don't seem to be able to find that anymore, so I can't post a link).
Later, python was taught to me in one of my first year courses at university. In the summer that followed, I practiced with PythonChallenge and with problems from Google Code Jam.
Solving these problems help from an algorithmic perspective as well as from the perspective of learning what Python can do as well as how to manipulate it to get the fullest out of python.
For similar reasons, I have heard that code golf works as well, but i have never tried it for myself.

Learning algorithms/maths/file IO/Pythonic optimisation
This won't get you guru-hood but to start out, try working through the Project Euler problems
The first 50 or so shouldn't tax you if you have decent high-school mathematics and know how to Google. When you solve one you get into the forum where you can look through other people's solutions which will teach you even more. Be decent though and don't post up your solutions as the idea is to encourage people to work it out for themselves.
Forcing yourself to work in Python will be unforgiving if you use brute-force algorithms.
This will teach you how to lay out large datasets in memory and access them efficiently with the fast language features such as dictionaries.
From doing this myself I learnt:
File IO
Algorithms and techniques such as Dynamic Programming
Python data layout
Dictionaries/hashmaps
Lists
Tuples
Various combinations thereof, e.g. dictionaries to lists of tuples
Generators
Recursive functions
Developing Python libraries
Filesystem layout
Reloading them during an interpreter session
And also very importantly
When to give up and use C or C++!
All of this should be relevant to Bioinformatics
Admittedly I didn't learn about the OOP features of Python from that experience.

Have you seen the book "Bioinformatics Programming using Python"? Looks like you're an exact member of its focus group.

You already have a lot of reading material, but if you can handle more, I recommend you
learn about the evolution of python by reading the Python Enhancement Proposals, especially the "Finished" PEPs and the "Deferred, Abandoned, Withdrawn, and Rejected" PEPs.
By seeing how the language has changed, the decisions that were made and their rationales, you will absorb the philosophy of Python and understand how "idiomatic Python" comes about.
http://www.python.org/dev/peps/

Attempt http://challenge.greplin.com/ using Python

Teaching to someone else who is starting to learn Python is always a great way to get your ideas clear and sometimes, I usually get a lot of neat questions from students that have me to re-think conceptual things about Python.

Not precisely what you're asking for, but I think it's good advice.
Learn another language, doesn't matter too much which. Each language has it's own ideas and conventions that you can learn from. Learn about the differences in the languages and more importantly why they're different. Try a purely functional language like Haskell and see some of the benefits (and challenges) of functions free of side-effects. See how you can apply some of the things you learn from other languages to Python.

I recommend starting with something that forces you to explore the expressive power of the syntax. Python allows many different ways of writing the same functionality, but there is often a single most elegant and fastest approach. If you're used to the idioms of other languages, you might never otherwise find or accept these better ways. I spent a weekend trudging through the first 20 or so Project Euler problems and made a simple webapp with Django on Google App Engine. This will only take you from apprentice to novice, maybe, but you can then continue to making somewhat more advanced webapps and solve more advanced Project Euler problems. After a few months I went back and solved the first 20 PE problems from scratch in an hour instead of a weekend.

General questions regarding Python language

I'm a newbie to programming and I've decided to start with Python. Just curious though, is it enough/recommended to learn Python from online tutorials or from books? I want to go further than simple "Hello World!" programs. I'm not sure if books will actually teach you how to make more advanced programs.
One example is Exif-py. How do you even start programming a program like this? Do you just sit down and start writing the code, or do you have to search for APIs or anything? I went through the code briefly and it all looked alien to me.
I'm not really sure how to express my questions into words, so do check back because I'll edit my question if the right words come to me.

Well, I learnt all my Python from online sources (not just tutorials, but reference documentation, blog posts and other texts). It's certainly possible, although some people prefer the "guided" way a book teaches you, particularly people new to programming (at that point I had already been programming for years).
To create a program such as Exif.py, you would first have to know what you must do in broad terms BEFORE starting to program. You would study the EXIF format, then figure out how that is put into the image files, then you would have to formulate that in terms of the language you're using (in this case, Python). This usually requires that you're already familiar with it, otherwise it'll be a fairly slow process.
I'd suggest starting with simpler programs to begin with, or maybe follow a book such as Dive Into Python (free online), seeing as you're new to programming, and need to not only learn the language, but to think like a programmer.

The tutorials are there to teach you the language syntax and the standard library, not really on how to solve a particular programming problem. Think of what you learn there as your toolbox.
I think I understand what you are saying. You want to break above and beyond the simple applications and write your own stuff, right? Well, first you need to figure out what it is you want to make. Then comes the hard part; how are you going to make it? I'd suggest starting by trying to break it down into a number of small simple problems instead of tackling it as one large problem.
If you are trying to find examples of larger projects, I'd suggest looking at the Python Cheeseshop (package index) and download a few packages you've heard of to see how they did it. Also, people often post handy pieces of code on their personal blogs and that shows up on PlanetPython.

If stuff like recursion, modules, classes, iteration, exceptions, dictionaries, are indeed new to you, I suggest How to Think Like a Computer Scientist in Python (lovingly abbreviated as ThinkCSPy in the community ;-).
It is a bit outdated - for best results, use Python 2.6 or lower, but then again 3.0 is not that different.
EDIT: If ThinkCSPy has little to teach you, try Dive Into Python. It's advanced and pretty "real-world", but step-by-step.

If by 'newbie to programming' you mean that you just started it last week or something along the lines, then maybe you might want to give the MIT OpenCourseWare Introduction to Computer Science videos (and homework!) a bit of your time.
The opencourse covers the syntax of the Python language, some helpful hints and general do's and don'ts that apply to any programming paradigm.
Though, if by 'newbie to programming', that you already know the basic concepts you need to start writing basic programs (like adding, subtracting, multiplying, logical operations, functions etc).
If so, Project Euler is particularly good for exercising that cranial muscle in problem solving via programming, though most of the problems on the site require you at also have knowledge of mathematics (and if you don't, at least know how to google).
Just remember, if you get stuck on anything don't get put down! It's all part of learning! If you're really stuck, search SO!

There are a few very good online resources:
The Python Tutorial.
Dive Into Python. Python from novice to pro.
Code Like a Pythonista: Idiomatic Python
Another list of resources: Essential Python Reading List.
Most Python books I've seen so far are "not that good" - but that depends
on your background / prior knowledge about Python and programming.

You study the EXIF format, study the GIF/JPEG format, open the binary file, scan it and get the data out.

I need a really good reason to use Python

I have been trying to make a case for using Python at my work. We use C# and ASP.NET for basically all of our development. 80% or more of our projects are web applications. It seems natural that we would look at some of the nice dynamic web languages (Ruby, Python, etc), and with things like IronRuby and IronPython, I started seriously investigating.
I love Python. It's a beautiful, expressive language. It's a joy to code in, for sure. The multitude of python modules and frameworks make it very appealing. Problem is, I cannot think of any specific problems, any specific hurdles that would require a language like Python. ASP.NET gives us RAD, it gives us a full-featured framework and all that good stuff. Also, we all already know C# and have lots of projects in C#, learning a new language just because doesn't quite work.
Can you guys help me think of something to finally convince my boss to really learn Python and start using it on projects?
Edit: I know that no problem requires only one language, I just meant, are there any specific problems in which dynamic languages excel over static languages.
Edit again: Let me also mention that my boss prompted ME to investigate this. He has put aside hours to research these languages, find a good one, learn it, and then figure out how we can use it. I'm at the last step here, I do not need a lecture on why I should consider my motivation for changing something my company does because they do it for a reason.

"Can you guys help me think of something to finally convince my boss to really learn Python and start using it on projects?"
Nope.
Nothing succeeds like success. Use Python. Be successful. Make people jealous.
When asked why you're successful, you can talk about Python. Not before.
Choose projects wisely: things where a dynamic language has significant advantages. Things where the requirements are not nailed down in detail. Things like data transformations, log-file scraping, and super-sophisticated replacements for BAT files.
Use Python to get started doing something useful while everyone else is standing around trying to get enough business and domain information to launch a project to develop a complicated MVC design.
Edit: Some Python to the Rescue stories.
Exploratory Programming
Tooling to build test cases
What's Central Here?
Control-Break Reporting
One More Cool Thing About Python Is...
In Praise of Serialization
And that's just me.
Edit: "boss prompted ME to investigate", "figure out how we can use it" changes everything.
The "finally convince my boss to really learn Python" is misleading. You aren't swimming upstream. See How Do I Make the Business Case for Python for the "convince my boss" problem. The edit says you're past this phase.
Dynamic languages offer flexibility. Exploit that. My two sets of examples above are two areas where flexibility matters.
Requirements aren't totally nailed down. With a dynamic language, you can get started. Rework won't be a deal-breaker. With Java (and C++ and C#) you are reluctant to tackle devastating design changes because it's hard to break everything and get it to compile and work again. In Python, devastating changes aren't as expensive.
Design is in flux because you can't pick components. You can write Wrappers and Facades very easily in Python. It's a scripting language. And, Python modules compose into larger aggregates very simply.
Coding is in flux because requirements and design keep changing. It's scripted -- not compiled. You just make a change to the code and you're off and running. Testing is easier because the work cycle is shorter. It isn't code-compile-build-test it's code-test.
Testing is in flux because the requirements keep changing. Same as above. The work cycle is shorter and faster.

Almost no problem requires a specific programming language, that's just not how things work.
The easiest way to get a new language into an environment like yours is to start a new work project in your own time in the new language. Make it do something you need doing, and write it on your own time. Use it yourself, and other people will probably notice it. They then say "Can you send me that program?" and boom, they're using your new language.
If you really want to something, I would probably write a site in Django, simply because its admin interface blows everyone away.
The main point to remember is that if you start using python, that's one more thing everyone else has to learn, and it's another bullet point that will need to be on every prospective employee's resume. That can get expensive, and management won't like it.

Sneaking a language in is often done by automating tedious manual tasks (especially dynamic/scripting languages like Python/Ruby etc). Set it up so something like deploying builds, or shuffling backups, or whatever is done with Python.
Then casually slip in how easy it was to do, and try to spread some of the enthusiasm around.
Acceptance and awareness should slowly grow from that, and before you know it, management is seriously considering Python for a new project.

Can you guys help me think of
something to finally convince my boss
to really learn Python and start using
it on projects?
Unfortunately, the answer is no. As Harley said, no problem is going to require a specific language. The approach Harley suggested is also a good one. Learn on your time, build an useful app on your time, and maybe, just maybe, someone at your work will want to use it, like it, love it, then want to learn more about it.
Another approach you could take is to get a better understanding of why your company uses .Net (therefore, Windows Server, and probably SQL server) for nearly all development. Once you have a good understanding of why they aren't open to other languages, then you have some fire power to build a business case for the "why not?".
Why pay licensing costs when you have tools that can accomplish the same things? There are free alternatives out there, like Python, that run on free servers.
Why not give your team the chance to grow their professional tool-belt? This is my opinion, but a good developer is a developer that isn't afraid to learn new ways of doing the same thing they've done before.
But, in the end, I wouldn't get your hopes up. Bottom line, it costs money to introduce a new language/environment into an IT shop. Whether it's software, training, or employee rollover, there is a business reason behind utilizing a single language for a company, and sticking to it.
I'm in the exact scenario you're in. I work in a .Net shop, and that's not going to change any time soon. I get by, by working on my own projects in my "free" time. I enjoy it, and it makes for a good balance.
Hope this helps.

Take a step back, and look at your approach. "I know what I want the answer to be, but I can't find any evidence to support it."
Despite the fact that Python is my current first choice language, I am afraid I find myself on the side of your boss! Sorry.
I think you should open your mind and consider all the options from the stance of your organisation's best interest, and see if you don't come to a different conclusion about the best language.
There are many factors in the choice of language, and how pretty it is is a fairly minor one. The availability of staff is a key one. The cost of retraining, availability of the libraries and meta-tools, performance, etc. etc.
Once you have taken into consideration all the different factors (and not just "Oooh! It'd be fun!") and made a balanced assessment (rather than a predetermined answer), you may find that your boss is more willing to listen.
p.s. The suggestion to secretly use Python for work code, and leaving the company with a terrible code debt in a language they are not prepared for seems very unprofessional to me.

The best leverage you're likely going to have is tools and libraries; as others have pointed out, no language is required to solve any particular program. So let's look at Things You Can Leverage Using Python:
Google App Engine
SciPy
pywinauto
django
Those are off the top of my head; finding what's applicable to your team and your company is left as an exercise for the questioner :)

Well, here's a view of why Python programmers make better Java programmers; the concepts are much the same as for your situation.
Essentially, people who learn a language because they want to show that they enjoy programming, like to learn new things, and are more likely to think outside the box.
...if a company chooses to write
its software in a comparatively
esoteric language, they'll be able to
hire better programmers, because
they'll attract only those who cared
enough to learn it. And for
programmers the paradox is even more
pronounced: the language to learn, if
you want to get a good job, is a
language that people don't learn
merely to get a job.
Not only that, but Python enforces "good looking" code and you don't have to do the whole code/compile routine. With IronPython, you can simply code in Python and use it as is; just another .NET tool.

Python got a good start in the Java world as Jython for unit testing. In fact many Java people started using it first that way. Its dynamic scripting nature makes it a great fit for unit tests. Just yesterday I was wishing I could use it or something like it for the unit tests I was writing for a VB.Net project. I'd have to say that it isn't so much about the individual language IronRuby or IronPython as it is about the style of development that they enable. You can write static language like code in either but you don't fully reap the benefits until you can start to think dynamically. Once you grasp those concepts you'll start to slowly change the way you code and your projects will require less classes and less code to implement. Testing, particularly unit tests will become a must since you give up the warm blanket known as a compiler with type safety checks for other efficiencies.

The language is almost never the key to success. Good programmers can be successful in a variety of languages, and you'll find successful projects in almost any language. You won't find the failures that much because those projects just go away never to be heard of again. If you're looking for a new language because you don't have good programmers, even the best language in the world isn't going to help.
And, you haven't said anything about the sort of work you're doing. Python might be a good choice because it has well-supported and widely-used libraries that are critical for you. On the other hand, C# might have better support for the stuff that you want to do. A tool outside of context has no intrinsic merit. You might love screwdrivers, but that doesn't help you row a boat.
If you want to use Python, or any other language, just because you like it, be honest with yourself and those around you. It looks like you've made a decision to switch, don't know why you are switching, and now need to rationalize it with reasons that had nothing to do with your desire to switch. If you had a good reason, you wouldn't be asking here :)
That's not entirely a bad thing, though. Programming is a human enterprise. If the programmers (at whatever level) insanely love a particular language, no matter how stupid the reason, they are probably going to produce more. It's just not a technological solution though.
Good luck, :)

I am pretty sure (100%) that you don't need to use Python for MS Windows at least.
In cases of other platforms you can use any language you like.