Python Documentation¶

contents  [expand]

• The Python tutorial
  • Whetting Your Appetite
  • Using the Python Interpreter
    • Invoking the Interpreter
      • Argument Passing
      • Interactive Mode
    • The Interpreter and Its Environment
      • Error Handling
      • Executable Python Scripts
      • Source Code Encoding
      • The Interactive Startup File
  • An Informal Introduction to Python
    • Using Python as a Calculator
      • Numbers
      • Strings
      • Unicode Strings
      • Lists
    • First Steps Towards Programming
  • More Control Flow Tools
    • if Statements
    • for Statements
    • The range Function
    • break and continue Statements, and else Clauses on Loops
    • pass Statements
    • Defining Functions
    • More on Defining Functions
      • Default Argument Values
      • Keyword Arguments
      • Arbitrary Argument Lists
      • Unpacking Argument Lists
      • Lambda Forms
      • Documentation Strings
    • Intermezzo: Coding Style
  • Data Structures
    • More on Lists
      • Using Lists as Stacks
      • Using Lists as Queues
      • Functional Programming Tools
      • List Comprehensions
      • Nested List Comprehensions
    • The del statement
    • Tuples and Sequences
    • Sets
    • Dictionaries
    • Looping Techniques
    • More on Conditions
    • Comparing Sequences and Other Types
  • Modules
    • More on Modules
      • Executing modules as scripts
      • The Module Search Path
      • “Compiled” Python files
    • Standard Modules
    • The dir Function
    • Packages
      • Importing * From a Package
      • Intra-package References
      • Packages in Multiple Directories
  • Input and Output
    • Fancier Output Formatting
      • Old string formatting
    • Reading and Writing Files
      • Methods of File Objects
      • The pickle Module
  • Errors and Exceptions
    • Syntax Errors
    • Exceptions
    • Handling Exceptions
    • Raising Exceptions
    • User-defined Exceptions
    • Defining Clean-up Actions
    • Predefined Clean-up Actions
  • Classes
    • A Word About Terminology
    • Python Scopes and Name Spaces
    • A First Look at Classes
      • Class Definition Syntax
      • Class Objects
      • Instance Objects
      • Method Objects
    • Random Remarks
    • Inheritance
      • Multiple Inheritance
    • Private Variables
    • Odds and Ends
    • Exceptions Are Classes Too
    • Iterators
    • Generators
    • Generator Expressions
  • Brief Tour of the Standard Library
    • Operating System Interface
    • File Wildcards
    • Command Line Arguments
    • Error Output Redirection and Program Termination
    • String Pattern Matching
    • Mathematics
    • Internet Access
    • Dates and Times
    • Data Compression
    • Performance Measurement
    • Quality Control
    • Batteries Included
  • Brief Tour of the Standard Library – Part II
    • Output Formatting
    • Templating
    • Working with Binary Data Record Layouts
    • Multi-threading
    • Logging
    • Weak References
    • Tools for Working with Lists
    • Decimal Floating Point Arithmetic
  • What Now?
  • Interactive Input Editing and History Substitution
    • Line Editing
    • History Substitution
    • Key Bindings
    • Commentary
  • Floating Point Arithmetic: Issues and Limitations
    • Representation Error
• Python HOWTOs
  • Python Advocacy HOWTO
    • Reasons to Use Python
      • Programmability
      • Prototyping
      • Simplicity and Ease of Understanding
      • Java Integration
    • Arguments and Rebuttals
    • Useful Resources
  • Curses Programming with Python
    • What is curses?
      • The Python curses module
    • Starting and ending a curses application
    • Windows and Pads
    • Displaying Text
      • Attributes and Color
    • User Input
    • For More Information
  • Idioms and Anti-Idioms in Python
    • Language Constructs You Should Not Use
      • from module import *
        • Inside Function Definitions
        • At Module Level
        • When It Is Just Fine
      • Unadorned exec, execfile and friends
      • from module import name1, name2
      • except:
    • Exceptions
    • Using the Batteries
    • Using Backslash to Continue Statements
  • Functional Programming HOWTO
    • Introduction
      • Formal provability
      • Modularity
      • Ease of debugging and testing
      • Composability
    • Iterators
      • Data Types That Support Iterators
    • Generator expressions and list comprehensions
    • Generators
      • Passing values into a generator
    • Built-in functions
    • Small functions and the lambda expression
    • The itertools module
      • Creating new iterators
      • Calling functions on elements
      • Selecting elements
      • Grouping elements
    • The functools module
      • The operator module
      • The functional module
    • Revision History and Acknowledgements
    • References
      • General
      • Python-specific
      • Python documentation
  • Regular Expression HOWTO
    • Introduction
    • Simple Patterns
      • Matching Characters
      • Repeating Things
    • Using Regular Expressions
      • Compiling Regular Expressions
      • The Backslash Plague
      • Performing Matches
      • Module-Level Functions
      • Compilation Flags
    • More Pattern Power
      • More Metacharacters
      • Grouping
      • Non-capturing and Named Groups
      • Lookahead Assertions
    • Modifying Strings
      • Splitting Strings
      • Search and Replace
    • Common Problems
      • Use String Methods
      • match() versus search()
      • Greedy versus Non-Greedy
      • Not Using re.VERBOSE
    • Feedback
  • Socket Programming HOWTO
    • Sockets
      • History
    • Creating a Socket
      • IPC
    • Using a Socket
      • Binary Data
    • Disconnecting
      • When Sockets Die
    • Non-blocking Sockets
      • Performance
  • Unicode HOWTO
    • Introduction to Unicode
      • History of Character Codes
      • Definitions
      • Encodings
      • References
    • Python’s Unicode Support
      • The Unicode Type
      • Unicode Literals in Python Source Code
      • Unicode Properties
      • References
    • Reading and Writing Unicode Data
      • Unicode filenames
      • Tips for Writing Unicode-aware Programs
      • References
    • Revision History and Acknowledgements
  • HOWTO Fetch Internet Resources Using urllib2
    • Introduction
    • Fetching URLs
      • Data
      • Headers
    • Handling Exceptions
      • URLError
      • HTTPError
        • Error Codes
      • Wrapping it Up
        • Number 1
        • Number 2
    • info and geturl
    • Openers and Handlers
    • Basic Authentication
    • Proxies
    • Sockets and Layers
    • Footnotes