Core Python Programming (Prentice Hall Ptr Core Series),Used

Excerpt. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.PrefaceWelcome to Python!Welcome to the wonderful world of Python! As a professional or student with working knowledge of another highlevel programming language, this text was made for you in your efforts to jump straight into Python with as little overhead as possible. The goal of this book is to provide text that flows in a conversational style littered with examples to highlight your path towards Python programming.At the time of publication, Python 2.0 was just released, so you will definitely have the latest and greatest. The supplementary CDROM has the three most recent versions of Python: 1.5.2, 1.6, and 2.0, not to mention the most recent release of the Java version of the Python interpreter, JPython (a.k.a. Jython).Style: Technical, Yet Easy ReadingRather than strictly a 'beginners'' book or a pure, hardcore computer science reference book, my instructional experience indicates that an easytoread, yet technicallyoriented book serves our purpose the best, and that is to get you uptospeed on Python as quickly as possible, so that you can apply it to your tasks post haste. We will introduce concepts coupled with appropriate examples to expedite the learning process. At the end of each chapter you will find numerous exercises to reinforce some of the concepts and ideas acquired in your reading.After the obligatory introduction to Python, but before heading to the core of the language, we take a 'quick plunge' into Python with the 'Getting Started' chapter. The intention of this chapter is for those who wish to temporarily dispense of formal reading and get their hands dirty with Python immediately. If you do not wish to travel this path, you may proceed as normal to the next set of chapters, an introduction to Python objects. Python's primitive data types, numbers, strings, lists, tuples, and dictionaries make up the next three chapters.Python's errorhandling capability is extremely useful to both the programmer and the user, and we address that topic in a separate chapter. Finally, the largest parts of the Python 'core' we cover will be functions, modules, and classes... each in its own chapter. The final chapter of the text provides insight on how Python may be extended. The last section of the book is a minireference guide in the appendix. There we spill the beans on the core modules of the standard library, highlight the operators and builtin operators and functions for the Python types, provide solutions to selected exercises, and conclude with a small glossary of terms.Author's Experience with PythonI discovered Python several years ago at a company called Four11. At the time, the company had one major product, the Four11.com White Page directory service. Python was being used to design the Rocketmail webbased email service that would eventually one day evolve into what is Yahoo!Mail today.In addition to the use of C++, much of the controlling software and web frontend were done completely in Python. I participated in work done on the Yahoo!Mail address book and spellchecker. Since then, Python's appearance has spread to other Yahoo! sites, including People Search, Yellow Pages, and Maps and Driving Directions, just to name a few.Although Python was new to me at the time, it was fairly easy to pick up; much simpler than other languages that I have learned in the past. The scarcity of the number of textbooks at the time led me to primarily use the Library Reference and Quick Reference Guide as my tools in learning, and also led to the motivation of the book you are reading right now.Book ContentsThis book is divided into two main sections. The first part, taking up about twothirds of the text, gives you treatment of the 'core' part of the language, and the second part provides a set of various advanced topics to show what you can build using Python.Python is everywheresometimes it is amazing to discover who is using Python a