Python is a popular open source programming language that can be used with ArcGIS. It allows users to automate tasks, create custom tools and geoprocessing scripts, and customize their ArcGIS workflow. Python's simplicity, large library of packages, and integration with ArcGIS make it a powerful option for tasks like data analysis, geoprocessing, and managing ArcGIS services and databases. Resources for learning Python and ArcPy include online help, books, tutorials, forums like GeoNet, and training courses from ESRI. Presentations at ESRI Developer Summits have shown examples of using Python for scientific computing and raster analysis tasks.