Learning Python

Portable, powerful, and a breeze to use, Python is ideal for both standalone programs and scripting applications. With this hands-on book, you can master the fundamentals of the core Python language quickly and efficiently, whether you're new to programming or just new to Python. Once you finish, you will know enough about the language to use it in any application domain you choose.

Learning Python is based on material from author Mark Lutz's popular training courses, which he's taught over the past decade. Each chapter is a self-contained lesson that helps you thoroughly understand a key component of Python before you continue. Along with plenty of annotated examples, illustrations, and chapter summaries, every chapter also contains Brain Builder, a unique section with practical exercises and review quizzes that let you practice new skills and test your understanding as you go.

This book covers:

• Types and Operations -- Python's major built-in object types in depth: numbers, lists, dictionaries, and more



• Statements and Syntax -- the code you type to create and process objects in Python, along with Python's general syntax model



• Functions -- Python's basic procedural tool for structuring and reusing code



• Modules -- packages of statements, functions, and other tools organized into larger components



• Classes and OOP -- Python's optional object-oriented programming tool for structuring code for customization and reuse



• Exceptions and Tools -- exception handling model and statements, plus a look at development tools for writing larger programs

Learning Python gives you a deep and complete understanding of the language that will help you comprehend any application-level examples of Python that you later encounter. If you're ready to discover what Google and YouTube see in Python, this book is the best way to get started.

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.