Python in a nutshell / Alex Martelli.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Ask any Python aficionado and you'll hear that Python programmers have it all: an elegant language that offers object-oriented programming support, a readable, maintainable syntax, integration with C components, and an enormous collection of precoded standard library and extension modules. Moreover, Python is easy to learn but powerful enough to take on the most ambitious programming challenges. But what Python programmers have lacked is one concise and clear reference resource, with the appropriate measure of guidance in how best to use Python's great power. Now Python in a Nutshell fills this need.In the tradition of O'Reilly's "In a Nutshell" series, this book offers Python programmers one place to look when they need help remembering or deciphering the syntax of this open source language and its many modules. This comprehensive reference guide makes it easy to look up all the most frequently needed information--not just about the Python language itself, but also the most frequently used parts of the standard library and the most important third-party extensions. Python in a Nutshell focuses on Python 2.2 (and all its point releases), currently the most stable and widespread Python release. This book includes:

A fast-paced tutorial on the syntax of the Python language itself An explanation of object-oriented programming in Python, covering both the classic and new-style object models Coverage of other core topics, including exceptions, modules, strings, and regular expressions A quick reference for Python's built-in types and functions, as well as the key modules in the Python standard library, including sys, os, time, thread, math, and socket, among many others Reference material on important third-party extensions, such as Numeric and Tkinter Information about extending Python and embedding it into other applications Python in a Nutshell provides a solid, no-nonsense quick reference to information that programmers rely on the most. This latest addition to the best-selling "In a Nutshell" series will immediately earn its place in any Python programmer's library.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Preface I. Getting Started with Python
• 1 Introduction to Python The Python Language The Python Standard Library and Extension Modules Python Implementations Python Development and Versions Python Resources
• 2 Installation Installing Python from Source Code Installing Python from Binaries Installing Jython
• 3 The Python Interpreter The python Program Python Development Environments Running Python Programs The Jython Interpreter II. Core Python Language and Built-ins
• 4 The Python Language Lexical Structure Data Types Variables and Other References Expressions and Operators Numeric Operations Sequence Operations Dictionary Operations The print Statement Control Flow Statements Functions
• 5 Object-Oriented Python Classic Classes and Instances New-Style Classes and Instances Special Methods Metaclasses
• 6 Exceptions The try Statement Exception Propagation The raise Statement Exception Objects Custom Exception Classes Error-Checking Strategies
• 7 Modules Module Objects Module Loading Packages The Distribution Utilities (distutils)
• 8 Core Built-ins Built-in Types Built-in Functions The sys Module The getopt Module The copy Module The bisect Module The UserList, UserDict, and UserString Modules
• 9 Strings and Regular Expressions Methods of String Objects The string Module String Formatting The pprint Module The repr Module Unicode Regular Expressions and the re Module III. Python Library and Extension Modules
• 10 File and Text Operations The os Module Filesystem Operations File Objects Auxiliary Modules for File I/O The StringIO and cStringIO Modules Compressed Files Text Input and Output Richer-Text I/O Interactive Command Sessions Internationalization
• 11 Persistence and Databases Serialization DBM Modules The Berkeley DB Module The Python Database API (DBAPI) 2.0
• 12 Time Operations The time Module The sched Module The calendar Module The mx.DateTime Module
• 13 Controlling Execution Dynamic Execution and the exec Statement Restricted Execution Internal Types Garbage Collection Termination Functions Site and User Customization
• 14 Threads and Processes Threads in Python The thread Module The Queue Module The threading Module Threaded Program Architecture Process Environment Running Other Programs The mmap Module
• 15 Numeric Processing The math and cmath Modules The operator Module The random Module The array Module The Numeric Package Array Objects Universal Functions (ufuncs) Optional Numeric Modules
• 16 Tkinter GUIs Tkinter Fundamentals Widget Fundamentals Commonly Used Simple Widgets Container Widgets Menus The Text Widget The Canvas Widget Geometry Management Tkinter Events
• 17 Testing, Debugging, and Optimizing Testing Debugging The warnings Module Optimization IV. Network and Web Programming
• 18 Client-Side Network Protocol Modules URL Access Email Protocols The HTTP and FTP Protocols Network News Telnet Distributed Computing
• 19 Sockets and Server-Side Network Protocol Modules The socket Module The SocketServer Module Event-Driven Socket Programs
• 20 CGI Scripting and Alternatives CGI in Python Cookies Other Server-Side Approaches
• 21 MIME and Network Encodings Encoding Binary Data as Text MIME and Email Format Handling
• 22 Structured Text: HTML The sgmllib Module The htmllib Module The HTMLParser Module Generating HTML
• 23 Structured Text: XML An Overview of XML Parsing Parsing XML with SAX Parsing XML with DOM Changing and Generating XML V. Extending and Embedding
• 24 Extending and Embedding Classic Python Extending Python with Python's C API Extending Python Without Python's C API Embedding Python
• 25 Extending and Embedding Jython Importing Java Packages in Jython Embedding Jython in Java Compiling Python into Java
• 26 Distributing Extensions and Programs Python's distutils The py2exe Tool The Installer Tool
• Index

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Alex Martelli spent 8 years with IBM Research, winning three Outstanding Technical Achievement Awards. He then spent 13 as a Senior Software Consultant at think3 inc, developing libraries, network protocols, GUI engines, event frameworks, and web access frontends. He has also taught programming languages, development methods, and numerical computing at Ferrara University and other venues. He's a C++ MVP for Brainbench, and a member of the Python Software Foundation. He currently works for AB Strakt, a Python-centered software house in Gteborg, Sweden, mostly by telecommuting from his home in Bologna, Italy. Alex's proudest achievement is the articles that appeared in Bridge World (January/February 2000), which were hailed as giant steps towards solving issues that had haunted contract bridge theoreticians for decades.