Python is a programming language that is similar to Java in some
respects, but has fewer of the overheads of Java, and generally at a
higher level than Java. It is an excellent choice as a glue language.
Being interpreted, it is also excellent for rapid prototyping, with
common experience being that applications can be developed 5 times
more quickly in Python than in Java. See
http://www.ferg.org/projects/python_java_side-by-side.html for
more details of such a comparison.
A number of products use Python as a scripting and extension language,
including OpenOffice.