Programming Python

Already the industry standard for Python users, Programming Python from O'Reilly just got even better. This third edition has been updated to reflect current best practices and the abundance of changes introduced by the latest version of the language, Python 2.5.

Whether you're a novice or an advanced practitioner, you'll find this refreshed book more than lives up to its reputation. Programming Python, 3rd Edition, teaches you the right way to code. It explains Python language syntax and programming techniques in a clear and concise manner, with numerous examples that illustrate both correct usage and common idioms. By reading this comprehensive guide, you'll learn how to apply Python in real-world problem domains such as:

• GUI programming
• Internet scripting
• Parallel processing
• Database management
• Networked applications

Programming Python, Third Edition covers each of these target domains gradually, beginning with in-depth discussions of core concepts and then progressing toward complete programs. Large examples do appear, but only after you've learned enough to understand their techniques and code.

Along the way, you'll also learn how to use the Python language in realistically scaled programs--concepts such as Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) and code reuse are recurring side themes throughout this text. If you're interested in Python programming, then this O'Reilly classic needs to be within arm's reach. The wealth of practical advice, snippets of code, and patterns of program design can all be put into use on a daily basis--making your life easier and more productive.

Reviews of the second edition:

"...about as comprehensive as any book can be."

--Dr. Dobb's Journal

"If the language had manuals, they would undoubtedly be the texts from O'Reilly...'Learning Python' and 'Programming Python' are definitive treatments."

--SD Times

If you've mastered Python's fundamentals, you're ready to start using it to get real work done. Programming Python will show you how, with in-depth tutorials on the language's primary application domains: system administration, GUIs, and the Web. You'll also explore how Python is used in databases, networking, front-end scripting layers, text processing, and more. This book focuses on commonly used tools and libraries to give you a comprehensive understanding of Pythons many roles in practical, real-world programming.

You'll learn language syntax and programming techniques in a clear and concise manner, with lots of examples that illustrate both correct usage and common idioms. Completely updated for version 3.x, Programming Python also delves into the language as a software development tool, with many code examples scaled specifically for that purpose.

Topics include:

• Quick Python tour: Build a simple demo that includes data representation, object-oriented programming, object persistence, GUIs, and website basics
• System programming: Explore system interface tools and techniques for command-line scripting, processing files and folders, running programs in parallel, and more
• GUI programming: Learn to use Pythons tkinter widget library
• Internet programming: Access client-side network protocols and email tools, use CGI scripts, and learn website implementation techniques
• More ways to apply Python: Implement data structures, parse text-based information, interface with databases, and extend and embed Python

With this convenient, single-source reference, you'll learn how to develop instrumentation software with Python that lets you monitor or control devices in the physical world. Whether you need to acquire data from a hardware device or automate its functions, this book shows you how to build interfaces that include everything from software to wiring. You get step-by-step instructions, clear examples, and hands-on tips and hints for interfacing a PC to the real world, along with advice to help you avoid common pitfalls.

Use the book's hardware survey to discover the interface type for your particular device, and then follow detailed examples to develop the interface with Python and C. Organized by interface type, data processing activities, and user interface implementations, this book is for anyone who works with instrumentation, robotics, data acquisition, or process control.

• Understand how to define the scope of an application and determine the algorithms necessary — and why it's important
• Learn how to use industry-standard interfaces such as RS-232, RS-485, and GPIB
• Create low-level extension modules in C to interface Python with a variety of hardware and test instruments
• Explore the console, curses, TkInter, and wxPython for graphical and text-based user interfaces
• Use open source software tools and libraries to reduce cost and avoid implementing functionality from scratch

Mark Lutz is the world leader in Python training, the author of Python's earliest and best-selling texts, and a pioneering figure in the Python community since 1992. He is also the author of O'Reilly's Programming Python, 3rd Edition and Python Pocket Reference, 3rd Edition. Mark began teaching Python classes in 1997, and has instructed more than 200 Python training sessions as of 2007. Mark also has BS and MS degrees in Computer Science and 25 years of software development experience. Whenever Mark gets a break from spreading the Python word, he leads an ordinary, average life with his kids in Colorado. Mark can be reached by email at , or on the web at http://www.rmi.net/~lutz.

• Chapter 1: Introducing Python
• Chapter 2: A Sneak Preview

• Chapter 3: System Tools
• Chapter 4: File and Directory Tools
• Chapter 5: Parallel System Tools
• Chapter 6: System Examples: Utilities
• Chapter 7: System Examples: Directories

• Chapter 8: Graphical User Interfaces
• Chapter 9: A Tkinter Tour, Part 1
• Chapter 10: A Tkinter Tour, Part 2
• Chapter 11: GUI Coding Techniques
• Chapter 12: Complete GUI Programs

• Chapter 13: Network Scripting
• Chapter 14: Client-Side Scripting
• Chapter 15: The PyMailGUI Client
• Chapter 16: Server-Side Scripting
• Chapter 17: The PyMailCGI Server
• Chapter 18: Advanced Internet Topics

• Chapter 19: Databases and Persistence
• Chapter 20: Data Structures
• Chapter 21: Text and Language

• Chapter 22: Extending Python
• Chapter 23: Embedding Python

• Chapter 24: Conclusion: Python and the Development Cycle