9780132269933

The fast-path guide to Python development for developers new to the ever-growing language!

Wesley J. Chun, MSCS, is the author of Python Fundamentals, a companion video to Core Python Programming, and the coauthor of Python Web Development with Django. In addition to being a senior software architect, he runs CyberWeb (cyberwebconsulting.com), a consulting business specializing in Python software engineering and technical training. He has more than twenty-five years of programming, teaching, and writing experience, including more than a decade with Python. While at Yahoo!, he helped create Yahoo!Mail and Yahoo! People Search using Python. He holds degrees in computer science, mathematics, and music from the University of California.

Preface

xxiii

Acknowledgments

xxxv

PART I: CORE PYTHON

2

(668)

Welcome to Python!

4

(26)

What Is Python?

5

(1)

Origins

6

(1)

Features

6

(5)

Downloading and Installing Python

11

(2)

Running Python

13

(9)

Python Documentation

22

(1)

Comparing Python

23

(3)

Other Implementations

26

(1)

Exercises

27

(3)

Getting Started

30

(30)

Program Output, the print Statement, and ``Hello World!''

32

(1)

Program Input and the raw_input ( ) Built-in Function

33

(2)

Comments

35

(1)

Operators

35

(2)

Variables and Assignment

37

(1)

Numbers

37

(2)

Strings

39

(1)

Lists and Tuples

40

(1)

Dictionaries

40

(1)

Code Blocks Use Indentation

41

(1)

if Statement

41

(1)

while Loop

42

(1)

for Loop and the range ( ) Built-in Function

43

(2)

List Comprehensions

45

(1)

Files and the open ( ) and file ( ) Built-in Functions

46

(1)

Errors and Exceptions

47

(1)

Functions

48

(2)

Classes

50

(2)

Modules

52

(2)

Useful Functions

54

(1)

Exercises

55

(5)

Python Basics

60

(28)

Statements and Syntax

61

(3)

Variable Assignment

64

(3)

Identifiers

67

(2)

Basic Style Guidelines

69

(6)

Memory Management

75

(4)

First Python Programs

79

(5)

Related Modules/Developer Tools

84

(1)

Exercises

85

(3)

Python Objects

88

(32)

Python Objects

89

(2)

Other Built-in Types

91

(2)

Internal Types

93

(3)

Standard Type Operators

96

(5)

Standard Type Built-in Functions

101

(10)

Categorizing the Standard Types

111

(5)

Unsupported Types

116

(1)

Exercises

117

(3)

Numbers

120

(36)

Introduction to Numbers

121

(1)

Integers

122

(3)

Double Precision Floating Point Numbers

125

(1)

Complex Numbers

126

(1)

Operators

127

(9)

Built-in and Factory Functions

136

(9)

Other Numeric Types

145

(3)

Related Modules

148

(3)

Exercises

151

(5)

Sequences: Strings, Lists, and Tuples

156

(96)

Sequences

158

(10)

Strings

168

(2)

Strings and Operators

170

(8)

String-Only Operators

178

(6)

Built-in Functions

184

(4)

String Built-in Methods

188

(4)

Special Features of Strings

192

(5)

Unicode

197

(9)

Related Modules

206

(2)

Summary of String Highlights

208

(1)

Lists

209

(2)

Operators

211

(5)

Built-in Functions

216

(4)

List Type Built-in Methods

220

(4)

Special Features of Lists

224

(8)

Tuples

232

(1)

Tuple Operators and Built-in Functions

233

(2)

Special Features of Tuples

235

(4)

Related Modules

239

(1)

*Copying Python Objects and Shallow and Deep Copies

240

(3)

Summary of Sequences

243

(3)

Exercises

246

(6)

Mapping and Set Types

252

(38)

Mapping Type: Dictionaries

253

(5)

Mapping Type Operators

258

(2)

Mapping Type Built-in and Factory Functions

260

(5)

Mapping Type Built-in Methods

265

(3)

Dictionary Keys

268

(5)

Set Types

273

(3)

Set Type Operators

276

(4)

Built-in Functions

280

(1)

Set Type Built-in Methods

281

(2)

Operator, Function/Method Summary Table for Set Types

283

(1)

Related Modules

283

(2)

Exercises

285

(5)

Conditionals and Loops

290

(34)

if Statement

291

(1)

else Statement

292

(2)

elif (aka else-if) Statement

294

(1)

Conditional Expressions (aka ``the Ternary Operator'')

295

(1)

while Statement

296

(2)

for Statement

298

(6)

break Statement

304

(1)

continue Statement

305

(1)

pass Statement

306

(1)

else Statement . . . Take Two

307

(2)

Iterators and the iter ( ) Function

309

(4)

List Comprehensions

313

(2)

Generator Expressions

315

(5)

Related Modules

320

(1)

Exercises

320

(4)

Files and Input/Output

324

(34)

File Objects

325

(1)

File Built-in Functions [open ( ) and file ( )]

326

(3)

File Built-in Methods

329

(7)

File Built-in Attributes

336

(1)

Standard Files

337

(1)

Command-Line Arguments

338

(1)

File System

339

(9)

File Execution

348

(1)

Persistent Storage Modules

348

(3)

Related Modules

351

(2)

Exercises

353

(5)

Errors and Exceptions

358

(50)

What Are Exceptions?

360

(1)

Exceptions in Python

361

(3)

Detecting and Handling Exceptions

364

(18)

Context Management

382

(4)

Exceptions as Strings

386

(1)

Raising Exceptions

386

(3)

Assertions

389

(2)

Standard Exceptions

391

(3)

*Creating Exceptions

394

(7)

Why Exceptions (Now)?

401

(1)

Why Exceptions at All?

402

(1)

Exceptions and the sys Module

403

(1)

Related Modules

404

(1)

Exercises

405

(3)

Functions and Functional Programming

408

(68)

What Are Functions?

409

(3)

Calling Functions

412

(6)

Creating Functions

418

(8)

Passing Functions

426

(2)

Formal Arguments

428

(5)

Variable-Length Arguments

433

(6)

Functional Programming

439

(14)

Variable Scope

453

(13)

*Recursion

466

(1)

Generators

467

(4)

Exercises

471

(5)

Modules

476

(28)

What Are Modules?

477

(1)

Modules and Files

478

(2)

Namespaces

480

(4)

Importing Modules

484

(2)

Features of Module Import

486

(5)

Module Built-in Functions

491

(2)

Packages

493

(3)

Other Features of Modules

496

(4)

Related Modules

500

(1)

Exercises

501

(3)

Object-Oriented Programming

504

(122)

Introduction

506

(8)

Object-Oriented Programming

514

(4)

Classes

518

(2)

Class Attributes

520

(6)

Instances

526

(5)

Instance Attributes

531

(9)

Binding and Method Invocation

540

(2)

Static Methods and Class Methods

542

(2)

Composition

544

(1)

Subclassing and Derivation

545

(2)

Inheritance

547

(11)

Built-in Functions for Classes, Instances, and Other Objects

558

(6)

Customizing Classes with Special Methods

564

(21)

Privacy

585

(2)

*Delegation

587

(8)

Advanced Features of New-Style Classes (Python 2.2+)

595

(20)

Related Topics

981

(1)

Exercises

982

(2)

Miscellaneous

984

(27)

Web Services

985

(4)

Programming Microsoft Office with Win32 COM

989

(13)

Python and Java Programming with Jython

1002

(4)

Exercises

1006

(5)

Appendix A Answers to Selected Exercises

1011

(10)

Appendix B Reference Tables

1021

(28)

Index

1049

What is included with this book?

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Welcome toCore Python Programming!We are delighted that you have engaged us to help you learn Python as quickly and as in-depth as possible. Learning the syntax is one goal of this book; however, we also believe that if you learn how Python works under the covers, you won't just be able to program in Python, but you will write more effective Python applications even as a beginner to the language. As you know, just because you learn a language's syntax does not make you competent in it right away.Throughout the book, you will find many examples that you can try right in front of your computer. To hammer the concepts home, you will also find fun and challenging exercises at the end of every chapter. These easy and intermediate exercises are meant to test your learning and push your Python skills. There simply is no substitute for experience. We believe you should not only pick up Python programming skills but also be able to master them in as short a time period as possible. About This BookThis book differs from other Python books on the market by presenting a broad range of topics, providing numerous examples, and going in-depth where necessary. This book does not require a specific background such as prior knowledge of C or object-oriented programming. It is also not a large case study book that does not facilitate picking up the language quickly. Finally, this book is not a pure reference nor is it meant to be a quick "dive" into Python. What we have is an extremely comprehensive introduction to the core features of the language (Part I) followed by a set of chapters that delve into specific areas of intermediate Python programming.This book is 40 percent introductory, 40 percent intermediate to advanced, and 20 percent reference. It is targeted toward technical professionals who are already familiar with programming in one other high-level language, as well as university/college and secondary students. Because Python is used in larger solutions such as Zope, Plone, MailMan, and Django, this book may be used by principals developing, managing, maintaining, or integrating with those systems.With regard to the code in this book, about a third of the first edition readers sent in complaints that there were not enough large, full-fledged applications in the book, or that the code examples were not long or comprehensive enough. Everyone else wrote that they loved the short, easy-to-understand examples and were not bored of page after page of mind-numbing code. The philosophy behind more short examples is to give you the ability to look at a piece of code and grasp its entirety. These turn into building blocks to understanding and then can be incorporated into larger applications as well. There are line-by-line explanations for most of the larger programs in the book. The abundant interpreter code snippets scattered throughout the book are there for you to try on your computer as you are learning Pythonuse the interactive interpreter as much as possible. You not only learn and improve your Python from using it, but you can also benefit from working out bugs in your code before you paste it into your source file.Because you cannot learn Python well without practice, you will find the exercises at the end of every chapter to be one of the greatest strengths of this book. They will test your knowledge of chapter topics and definitions, as well as get you to code as much as possible. There is no substitute to learning a programming language faster and more effectively than by building applications. You will find easy, intermediate, and difficult problems to solve. It is also here that you may have to write one of those "large" applications that many readers wanted to see in the book, but rather than having me do it, you gain the most from such exercises. Appendix A features answers to selected problems from each chapter.Another set of first edition readers

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Core Python Programming

Core Python Programming

0132269937

Summary

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Table of Contents

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