Python in a Nutshell: A Desktop Quick Reference

This book offers Python programmers one place to look when they needhelp remembering or deciphering the syntax of this open source languageand its many powerful but scantily documented modules. Thiscomprehensive reference guide makes it easy to look up the mostfrequently needed information--not just about the Python languageitself, but also the most frequently used parts of the standard libraryand the most important third-party extensions.

Ask any Python aficionado and you'll hear that Python programmers haveit all: an elegant object-oriented language with readable andmaintainable syntax, that allows for easy integration with componentsin C, C++, Java, or C#, and an enormous collection of precoded standardlibrary and third-party extension modules. Moreover, Python is easy tolearn, yet powerful enough to take on the most ambitious programmingchallenges. But what Python programmers used to lack is a concise andclear reference resource, with the appropriate measure of guidance inhow best to use Python's great power. Python in aNutshell fills this need.

Python in a Nutshell, Second Edition covers morethan the language itself; it also deals with the mostfrequently used parts of the standard library, and the most popular andimportant third party extensions. Revised and expanded forPython 2.5, this book now contains the gory details of Python's newsubprocess module and breaking news about Microsoft's newIronPython project. Our "Nutshell" format fits Python perfectly bypresenting the highlights of the most important modules and functionsin its standard library, which cover over 90% of your practicalprogramming needs. This book includes:

• A fast-paced tutorial on the syntax of the Python language
• An explanation of object-oriented programming in Python
• Coverage of iterators, generators, exceptions, modules,packages, strings, and regular expressions
• A quick reference for Python's built-in types and functionsand key modules
• Reference material on important third-party extensions,such as Numeric and Tkinter
• Information about extending and embedding Python

Python in a Nutshell provides a solid,no-nonsense quick reference to information that programmers rely on themost. This book will immediately earn its place in any Pythonprogrammer's library.

Praise for the First Edition:

"In a nutshell, Python in a Nutshell serves oneprimary goal: to act as an immediately accessible goal for the Pythonlanguage. True, you can get most of the same core information that ispresented within the covers of this volume online, but this willinvariably be broken into multiple files, and in all likelihood lackingthe examples or the exact syntax description necessary to trulyunderstand a command."
--Richard Cobbett, Linux Format

"O'Reilly has several good books, of which Python in aNutshell by Alex Martelli is probably the best for giving yousome idea of what Python is about and how to do useful things with it."
--Jerry Pournelle, Byte Magazine

Alex Martelli spent 8 years with IBM Research, winning three Outstanding Technical Achievement Awards. He then spent 13 as a Senior Software Consultant at think3 inc, developing libraries, network protocols, GUI engines, event frameworks, and web access frontends. He has also taught programming languages, development methods, and numerical computing at Ferrara University and other venues. He's a C++ MVP for Brainbench, and a member of the Python Software Foundation. He currently works for AB Strakt, a Python-centered software house in G teborg, Sweden, mostly by telecommuting from his home in Bologna, Italy. Alex's proudest achievement is the articles that appeared in Bridge World (January/February 2000), which were hailed as giant steps towards solving issues that had haunted contract bridge theoreticians for decades.