IPython is a free software project (released under the BSD license)
which tries to:

* Provide an interactive shell superior to Python's default. IPython
has many features for object introspection, system shell access,
and its own special command system for adding functionality when
working interactively. It tries to be a very efficient environment
both for Python code development and for exploration of problems
using Python objects (in situations like data analysis).

* Serve as an embeddable, ready to use interpreter for your own
programs. IPython can be started with a single call from inside
another program, providing access to the current namespace. This
can be very useful both for debugging purposes and for situations
where a blend of batch-processing and interactive exploration are
needed.

* Offer a flexible framework which can be used as the base
environment for other systems with Python as the underlying
language. Specifically scientific environments like Mathematica,
IDL and Matlab inspired its design, but similar ideas can be
useful in many fields.

* Allow interactive testing of threaded graphical toolkits. IPython
has support for interactive, non-blocking control of GTK, Qt and
WX applications via special threading flags. The normal Python
shell can only do this for Tkinter applications.