PyRAF is installed with Scisoft and is a wrap around IRAF that allows the use of a full-fledged programming language called Python. PyRAF is developed by the Space Telescope Science Institute and is used by the Hubble data reduction pipeline. Using PyRAF (1) allows you to write/run your own programs in a language with good support for high-performance computations and statistical computing packages; (2) gives access to several full fledged plotting packages (matplotlib); and (3) gives historical access to IRAF routines and algorithms. All of this is available in the same environment AND is free.

• PyRAF Homepage
• What is PyRAF?
• Installing IRAF/Pyraf standalone (not in scisfot)