Learning Python (Help for Programmers)

Learning Python is an introduction to the increasingly popular Python programming language--an interpreted, interactive, object-oriented scripting language that is portable across all Windows and major Unix platforms, including Linux. This book thoroughly introduces the elements of Python: types, operators, statements, classes, functions, modules, and exceptions. Proceeding to more advanced features, it demonstrates how Python performs common tasks and presents real applications as well as the libraries available for those applications. Each chapter ends with a series of exercises, with solutions included in the appendix. All examples use the Python interpreter, so the reader can enter them and get instant feedback. Learning Python is written by Mark Lutz, author ofProgramming Python and Python Pocket Reference; and David Ascher, a vision scientist and Python user.

The authors of Learning Python show you enough essentials of the Python scripting language to enable you to begin solving problems right away, then reveal more powerful aspects of the language one at a time. This approach is sure to appeal to programmers and system administrators who have urgent problems and a preference for learning by semi-guided experimentation.

First off, Learning Python shows the relationships among Python scripts and their interpreter (in a mostly platform-neutral way). Then, the authors address the mechanics of the language itself, providing illustrations of how Python conceives of numbers, strings, and other objects as well as the operators you use to work with them. Dictionaries, lists, tuples, and other data structures specific to Python receive plenty of attention including complete examples.

Authors Mark Lutz and David Ascher build on that fundamental information in their discussions of functions and modules, which evolve into coverage of namespaces, classes, and the object-oriented aspects of Python programming. There's also information on creating graphical user interfaces (GUIs) for Python applications with Tkinter.

In addition to its careful expository prose, Learning Python includes exercises that both test your Python skills and help reveal more elusive truths about the language.