If Python is interpreted, what are .pyc files?

Question

I\'ve been given to understand that Python is an interpreted language...
However, when I look at my Python source code I see .pyc files, w

Answer 1

These are created by the Python interpreter when a .py file is imported, and they contain the "compiled bytecode" of the imported module/program, the idea being that the "translation" from source code to bytecode (which only needs to be done once) can be skipped on subsequent imports if the .pyc is newer than the corresponding .py file, thus speeding startup a little. But it's still interpreted.