python/ integration " am lost at cthroughout this bookour programs have all been written in python code we have used interfaces to services outside pythonand we've coded reusable tools in the python languagebut all our work has been done in python itself despite our programsscale and utilitythey've been python through and through for many programmers and scriptersthis mode makes perfect sense in factsuch standalone programming is one of the main ways people apply python as we've seenpython comes with batteries included--interfaces to system toolsinternet protocolsguisdata storageand much more is already available moreovermost custom tasks we're likely to encounter have prebuilt solutions in the open source worldthe pil systemfor exampleallows us to process images in tkinter guis by simply running self-installer but for some systemspython' ability to integrate with components written in (or compatible withthe programming language is crucial feature in factpython' role as an extension and interface language in larger systems is one of the reasons for its popularity and why it is often called "scriptinglanguage in the first place its design supports hybrid systems that mix components written in variety of programming languages because different languages have different strengthsbeing able to pick and choose on component-by-component basis is powerful concept you can add python to the mix anywhere you need flexible and comparatively easy-to-use language toolwithout sacrificing raw speed where it matters compiled languages such as and +are optimized for speed of executionbut are complex to program--for developersand especially for end users who need to tailor programs because python is optimized for speed of developmentusing python scripts to control or customize software components written in or +can yield more flexible systemsquicker executionand faster development modes for examplemoving selected components of pure python program to can optimize program performance moreoversystems designed to delegate customizations to python code