Static:
Here are a couple of snippets from the introduction of Beginning Python that I think answer your questions, at least in the opinion of the author who wrote them:
"Python is small; it is a simple language that can be explained to a programmer in a very short time and can be taught to a new programmer without having to worry about the innumerable special cases that occur with more complex and involved languages."
"Interactive interpreter â Python provides an environment that can be used to interact with a program while it is running, which enables programs to be tested, and their behavior changed, without having to have an extended cycle in which the application is rebuilt to test theories."
You can check out the book with a 7 day free trial to our online subscription to more than 200 Wrox books at
http://wrox.books24x7.com which is where I got these couple of quick answers from.
Jim Minatel
Acquisitions Director
Wiley Technology Publishing
WROX Press
Blog:
http://wroxblog.typepad.com/
Wrox online library:
http://wrox.books24x7.com