1. Python is Free (Free as in Freedom vs. free as in beer debate) 2. Python teaches you the importance of whitespace 3. Python forces clarity in your coding 4.

1. Python is Free (Free as in Freedom vs. free as in beer debate) 2. Python teaches you the importance of whitespace 3. Python forces clarity in your coding 4. Python is blackboard-compatible, it's a great pseudo-language. 5. Python has a great REPL 6. Python is great for both scripting and OOP 7. Real Hackers use it ;-) Good luck! Just curious: do you guys have whiteboards or blackboards in class these days? Somehow teaching programming on a blackboard seems more appropriate & terminal-like to me.