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Python Frequently Asked Questions
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Table of contents
IronPython v2.7.4a1 documentation
Global Module Index
What's New in Python
What's New in Python 2.7
The Future for Python 2.x
Python 3.1 Features
PEP 372: Adding an Ordered Dictionary to collections
PEP 378: Format Specifier for Thousands Separator
PEP 389: The argparse Module for Parsing Command Lines
PEP 391: Dictionary-Based Configuration For Logging
PEP 3106: Dictionary Views
PEP 3137: The memoryview Object
Other Language Changes
Interpreter Changes
Optimizations
New and Improved Modules
New module: importlib
New module: sysconfig
ttk: Themed Widgets for Tk
Updated module: unittest
Updated module: ElementTree 1.3
Build and C API Changes
Capsules
Port-Specific Changes: Windows
Port-Specific Changes: Mac OS X
Port-Specific Changes: FreeBSD
Other Changes and Fixes
Porting to Python 2.7
Acknowledgements
What's New in Python 2.6
Python 3.0
New Documentation Format: reStructuredText Using Sphinx
PEP 343: The 'with' statement
Writing Context Managers
The contextlib module
PEP 366: Explicit Relative Imports From a Main Module
PEP 370: Per-user site-packages Directory
PEP 3101: Advanced String Formatting
PEP 3105: print As a Function
PEP 3110: Exception-Handling Changes
PEP 3112: Byte Literals
PEP 3116: New I/O Library
PEP 3119: Abstract Base Classes
PEP 3127: Integer Literal Support and Syntax
PEP 3129: Class Decorators
PEP 3141: A Type Hierarchy for Numbers
The fractions Module
Other Language Changes
Optimizations
Interpreter Changes
New and Improved Modules
The future_builtins module
The json module: JavaScript Object Notation
The plistlib module: A Property-List Parser
ctypes Enhancements
Improved SSL Support
Deprecations and Removals
Acknowledgements
What's New in Python 2.5 (IronPython 2.0)
PEP 308: Conditional Expressions
PEP 309: Partial Function Application
PEP 314: Metadata for Python Software Packages v1.1
PEP 328: Absolute and Relative Imports
PEP 338: Executing Modules as Scripts
PEP 341: Unified try/except/finally
PEP 342: New Generator Features
PEP 343: The 'with' statement
Writing Context Managers
The contextlib module
PEP 352: Exceptions as New-Style Classes
PEP 357: The '__index__' method
Other Language Changes
Interactive Interpreter Changes
Optimizations
New, Improved, and Removed Modules
The ctypes package
The ElementTree package
The hashlib package
The sqlite3 package
The wsgiref package
Port-Specific Changes
Porting to IronPython 2.0
Acknowledgements
The Python Tutorial
Whetting Your Appetite
Using the Python Interpreter
Invoking the Interpreter
Argument Passing
Interactive Mode
The Interpreter and Its Environment
Error Handling
Executable Python Scripts
Source Code Encoding
The Interactive Startup File
An Informal Introduction to Python
Using Python as a Calculator
Numbers
Strings
Unicode Strings
Lists
First Steps Towards Programming
More Control Flow Tools
if Statements
for Statements
The range() Function
break and continue Statements, and else Clauses on Loops
pass Statements
Defining Functions
More on Defining Functions
Default Argument Values
Keyword Arguments
Arbitrary Argument Lists
Unpacking Argument Lists
Lambda Forms
Documentation Strings
Intermezzo: Coding Style
Data Structures
More on Lists
Using Lists as Stacks
Using Lists as Queues
Functional Programming Tools
List Comprehensions
Nested List Comprehensions
The del statement
Tuples and Sequences
Sets
Dictionaries
Looping Techniques
More on Conditions
Comparing Sequences and Other Types
Modules
More on Modules
Executing modules as scripts
The Module Search Path
"Compiled" Python files
Standard Modules
The dir() Function
Packages
Importing * From a Package
Intra-package References
Packages in Multiple Directories
Input and Output
Fancier Output Formatting
Old string formatting
Reading and Writing Files
Methods of File Objects
The pickle Module
Errors and Exceptions
Syntax Errors
Exceptions
Handling Exceptions
Raising Exceptions
User-defined Exceptions
Defining Clean-up Actions
Predefined Clean-up Actions
Classes
A Word About Names and Objects
Python Scopes and Namespaces
A First Look at Classes
Class Definition Syntax
Class Objects
Instance Objects
Method Objects
Random Remarks
Inheritance
Multiple Inheritance
Private Variables
Odds and Ends
Exceptions Are Classes Too
Iterators
Generators
Generator Expressions
Brief Tour of the Standard Library
Operating System Interface
File Wildcards
Command Line Arguments
Error Output Redirection and Program Termination
String Pattern Matching
Mathematics
Internet Access
Dates and Times
Data Compression
Performance Measurement
Quality Control
Batteries Included
Brief Tour of the Standard Library -- Part II
Output Formatting
Templating
Working with Binary Data Record Layouts
Multi-threading
Logging
Weak References
Tools for Working with Lists
Decimal Floating Point Arithmetic
What Now?
Interactive Input Editing and History Substitution
Line Editing
History Substitution
Key Bindings
Alternatives to the Interactive Interpreter
Floating Point Arithmetic: Issues and Limitations
Representation Error
Using Python
Command line and environment
Command line
Interface options
Generic options
Miscellaneous options
Options you shouldn't use
Environment variables
Debug-mode variables
The Python Language Reference
Introduction
Alternate Implementations
Notation
Lexical analysis
Line structure
Logical lines
Physical lines
Comments
Encoding declarations
Explicit line joining
Implicit line joining
Blank lines
Indentation
Whitespace between tokens
Other tokens
Identifiers and keywords
Keywords
Reserved classes of identifiers
Literals
String literals
String literal concatenation
Numeric literals
Integer and long integer literals
Floating point literals
Imaginary literals
Operators
Delimiters
Data model
Objects, values and types
The standard type hierarchy
New-style and classic classes
Special method names
Basic customization
Customizing attribute access
More attribute access for new-style classes
Implementing Descriptors
Invoking Descriptors
__slots__
Customizing class creation
Customizing instance and subclass checks
Emulating callable objects
Emulating container types
Additional methods for emulation of sequence types
Emulating numeric types
Coercion rules
With Statement Context Managers
Special method lookup for old-style classes
Special method lookup for new-style classes
Execution model
Naming and binding
Interaction with dynamic features
Exceptions
Expressions
Arithmetic conversions
Atoms
Identifiers (Names)
Literals
Parenthesized forms
List displays
Displays for sets and dictionaries
Generator expressions
Dictionary displays
Set displays
String conversions
Yield expressions
Primaries
Attribute references
Subscriptions
Slicings
Calls
The power operator
Unary arithmetic and bitwise operations
Binary arithmetic operations
Shifting operations
Binary bitwise operations
Comparisons
Boolean operations
Conditional Expressions
Lambdas
Expression lists
Evaluation order
Summary
Simple statements
Expression statements
Assignment statements
Augmented assignment statements
The assert statement
The pass statement
The del statement
The print statement
The return statement
The yield statement
The raise statement
The break statement
The continue statement
The import statement
Future statements
The global statement
The exec statement
Compound statements
The if statement
The while statement
The for statement
The try statement
The with statement
Function definitions
Class definitions
Top-level components
Complete Python programs
File input
Interactive input
Expression input
Full Grammar specification
The Python Standard Library
Introduction
Built-in Functions
Non-essential Built-in Functions
Built-in Constants
Constants added by the site module
Built-in Types
Truth Value Testing
Boolean Operations --- and, or, not
Comparisons
Numeric Types --- int, float, long, complex
Bit-string Operations on Integer Types
Additional Methods on Integer Types
Additional Methods on Float
Iterator Types
Generator Types
Sequence Types --- str, unicode, list, tuple, buffer, xrange
String Methods
String Formatting Operations
XRange Type
Mutable Sequence Types
Set Types --- set, frozenset
Mapping Types --- dict
Dictionary view objects
File Objects
memoryview type
Context Manager Types
Other Built-in Types
Modules
Classes and Class Instances
Functions
Methods
Code Objects
Type Objects
The Null Object
The Ellipsis Object
Boolean Values
Internal Objects
Special Attributes
Built-in Exceptions
Exception hierarchy
String Services
string --- Common string operations
String constants
String Formatting
Format String Syntax
Format Specification Mini-Language
Format examples
Template strings
String functions
Deprecated string functions
re --- Regular expression operations
Regular Expression Syntax
Matching vs Searching
Module Contents
Regular Expression Objects
Match Objects
Examples
Checking For a Pair
Simulating scanf()
Avoiding recursion
search() vs. match()
Making a Phonebook
Text Munging
Finding all Adverbs
Finding all Adverbs and their Positions
Raw String Notation
struct --- Interpret strings as packed binary data
Functions and Exceptions
Format Strings
Byte Order, Size, and Alignment
Format Characters
Examples
Classes
difflib --- Helpers for computing deltas
SequenceMatcher Objects
SequenceMatcher Examples
Differ Objects
Differ Example
A command-line interface to difflib
StringIO --- Read and write strings as files
cStringIO --- Faster version of StringIO
textwrap --- Text wrapping and filling
codecs --- Codec registry and base classes
Codec Base Classes
Codec Objects
IncrementalEncoder Objects
IncrementalDecoder Objects
StreamWriter Objects
StreamReader Objects
StreamReaderWriter Objects
StreamRecoder Objects
Encodings and Unicode
Standard Encodings
encodings.idna --- Internationalized Domain Names in Applications
encodings.utf_8_sig --- UTF-8 codec with BOM signature
unicodedata --- Unicode Database
stringprep --- Internet String Preparation
fpformat --- Floating point conversions
Data Types
datetime --- Basic date and time types
Available Types
timedelta Objects
date Objects
datetime Objects
time Objects
tzinfo Objects
strftime() and strptime() Behavior
calendar --- General calendar-related functions
collections --- High-performance container datatypes
ABCs - abstract base classes
Counter objects
deque objects
deque Recipes
defaultdict objects
defaultdict Examples
namedtuple() Factory Function for Tuples with Named Fields
OrderedDict objects
heapq --- Heap queue algorithm
Theory
bisect --- Array bisection algorithm
Examples
array --- Efficient arrays of numeric values
sets --- Unordered collections of unique elements
Set Objects
Example
Protocol for automatic conversion to immutable
Comparison to the built-in set types
sched --- Event scheduler
Scheduler Objects
mutex --- Mutual exclusion support
Mutex Objects
queue --- A synchronized queue class
Queue Objects
weakref --- Weak references
Weak Reference Objects
Example
UserDict --- Class wrapper for dictionary objects
UserList --- Class wrapper for list objects
UserString --- Class wrapper for string objects
types --- Names for built-in types
new --- Creation of runtime internal objects
copy --- Shallow and deep copy operations
pprint --- Data pretty printer
PrettyPrinter Objects
pprint Example
repr --- Alternate repr() implementation
Repr Objects
Subclassing Repr Objects
Numeric and Mathematical Modules
numbers --- Numeric abstract base classes
The numeric tower
Notes for type implementors
Adding More Numeric ABCs
Implementing the arithmetic operations
math --- Mathematical functions
Number-theoretic and representation functions
Power and logarithmic functions
Trigonometric functions
Angular conversion
Hyperbolic functions
Special functions
Constants
cmath --- Mathematical functions for complex numbers
Conversions to and from polar coordinates
Power and logarithmic functions
Trigonometric functions
Hyperbolic functions
Classification functions
Constants
decimal --- Decimal fixed point and floating point arithmetic
Quick-start Tutorial
Decimal objects
Logical operands
Context objects
Signals
Floating Point Notes
Mitigating round-off error with increased precision
Special values
Working with threads
Recipes
Decimal FAQ
fractions --- Rational numbers
random --- Generate pseudo-random numbers
itertools --- Functions creating iterators for efficient looping
Itertool functions
Recipes
functools --- Higher order functions and operations on callable objects
partial Objects
operator --- Standard operators as functions
Mapping Operators to Functions
File and Directory Access
os.path --- Common pathname manipulations
fileinput --- Iterate over lines from multiple input streams
stat --- Interpreting stat() results
statvfs --- Constants used with os.statvfs()
filecmp --- File and Directory Comparisons
The dircmp class
tempfile --- Generate temporary files and directories
glob --- Unix style pathname pattern expansion
fnmatch --- Unix filename pattern matching
linecache --- Random access to text lines
shutil --- High-level file operations
Directory and files operations
copytree example
Archives operations
Archiving example
dircache --- Cached directory listings
Data Persistence
pickle --- Python object serialization
Relationship to other Python modules
Data stream format
Usage
What can be pickled and unpickled?
The pickle protocol
Pickling and unpickling normal class instances
Pickling and unpickling extension types
Pickling and unpickling external objects
Subclassing Unpicklers
Example
cPickle --- A faster pickle
copy_reg --- Register pickle support functions
shelve --- Python object persistence
Restrictions
Example
marshal --- Internal Python object serialization
anydbm --- Generic access to DBM-style databases
whichdb --- Guess which DBM module created a database
dbhash --- DBM-style interface to the BSD database library
Database Objects
dumbdbm --- Portable DBM implementation
Dumbdbm Objects
sqlite3 --- DB-API 2.0 interface for SQLite databases
Module functions and constants
Connection Objects
Cursor Objects
Row Objects
SQLite and Python types
Introduction
Using adapters to store additional Python types in SQLite databases
Letting your object adapt itself
Registering an adapter callable
Converting SQLite values to custom Python types
Default adapters and converters
Controlling Transactions
Using sqlite3 efficiently
Using shortcut methods
Accessing columns by name instead of by index
Using the connection as a context manager
Data Compression and Archiving
zlib --- Compression compatible with gzip
gzip --- Support for gzip files
Examples of usage
bz2 --- Compression compatible with bzip2
(De)compression of files
Sequential (de)compression
One-shot (de)compression
zipfile --- Work with ZIP archives
ZipFile Objects
PyZipFile Objects
ZipInfo Objects
tarfile --- Read and write tar archive files
TarFile Objects
TarInfo Objects
Examples
Supported tar formats
Unicode issues
File Formats
csv --- CSV File Reading and Writing
Module Contents
Dialects and Formatting Parameters
Reader Objects
Writer Objects
Examples
ConfigParser --- Configuration file parser
RawConfigParser Objects
ConfigParser Objects
SafeConfigParser Objects
Examples
robotparser --- Parser for robots.txt
netrc --- netrc file processing
netrc Objects
xdrlib --- Encode and decode XDR data
Packer Objects
Unpacker Objects
Exceptions
plistlib --- Generate and parse Mac OS X .plist files
Examples
Cryptographic Services
hashlib --- Secure hashes and message digests
hmac --- Keyed-Hashing for Message Authentication
md5 --- MD5 message digest algorithm
sha --- SHA-1 message digest algorithm
Generic Operating System Services
os --- Miscellaneous operating system interfaces
Process Parameters
File Object Creation
File Descriptor Operations
open() flag constants
Files and Directories
Process Management
Miscellaneous System Information
Miscellaneous Functions
io --- Core tools for working with streams
Module Interface
I/O Base Classes
Raw File I/O
Buffered Streams
Text I/O
time --- Time access and conversions
argparse -- Parser for command line options, arguments and sub-commands
Example
Creating a parser
Adding arguments
Parsing arguments
ArgumentParser objects
description
epilog
add_help
prefix_chars
fromfile_prefix_chars
argument_default
parents
formatter_class
conflict_handler
prog
usage
The add_argument() method
name or flags
action
nargs
const
default
type
choices
required
help
metavar
dest
The parse_args() method
Option value syntax
Invalid arguments
Arguments containing "-"
Argument abbreviations
Beyond sys.argv
Custom namespaces
Other utilities
Sub-commands
FileType objects
Argument groups
Mutual exclusion
Parser defaults
Printing help
Partial parsing
Customizing file parsing
Upgrading optparse code
optparse --- Parser for command line options
Background
Terminology
What are options for?
What are positional arguments for?
Tutorial
Understanding option actions
The store action
Handling boolean (flag) options
Other actions
Default values
Generating help
Printing a version string
How optparse handles errors
Putting it all together
Reference Guide
Creating the parser
Populating the parser
Defining options
Option attributes
Standard option actions
Standard option types
Parsing arguments
Querying and manipulating your option parser
Conflicts between options
Cleanup
Other methods
Option Callbacks
Defining a callback option
How callbacks are called
Raising errors in a callback
Callback example 1: trivial callback
Callback example 2: check option order
Callback example 3: check option order (generalized)
Callback example 4: check arbitrary condition
Callback example 5: fixed arguments
Callback example 6: variable arguments
Extending optparse
Adding new types
Adding new actions
getopt --- C-style parser for command line options
logging --- Logging facility for Python
Logging tutorial
Simple examples
Loggers
Handlers
Formatters
Configuring Logging
Configuring Logging for a Library
Logging Levels
Useful Handlers
Module-Level Functions
Logger Objects
Basic example
Logging to multiple destinations
Exceptions raised during logging
Adding contextual information to your logging output
Logging to a single file from multiple processes
Sending and receiving logging events across a network
Using arbitrary objects as messages
Optimization
Handler Objects
StreamHandler
FileHandler
NullHandler
WatchedFileHandler
RotatingFileHandler
TimedRotatingFileHandler
SocketHandler
DatagramHandler
SysLogHandler
NTEventLogHandler
SMTPHandler
MemoryHandler
HTTPHandler
Formatter Objects
Filter Objects
LogRecord Objects
LoggerAdapter Objects
Thread Safety
Integration with the warnings module
Configuration
Configuration functions
Configuration dictionary schema
Dictionary Schema Details
Incremental Configuration
Object connections
User-defined objects
Access to external objects
Access to internal objects
Configuration file format
Configuration server example
More examples
Multiple handlers and formatters
Using logging in multiple modules
getpass --- Portable password input
curses --- Terminal handling for character-cell displays
Functions
Window Objects
Constants
curses.textpad --- Text input widget for curses programs
Textbox objects
curses.wrapper --- Terminal handler for curses programs
curses.ascii --- Utilities for ASCII characters
curses.panel --- A panel stack extension for curses
Functions
Panel Objects
platform --- Access to underlying platform's identifying data
Cross Platform
Java Platform
Windows Platform
Win95/98 specific
Mac OS Platform
Unix Platforms
errno --- Standard errno system symbols
ctypes --- A foreign function library for Python
ctypes tutorial
Loading dynamic link libraries
Accessing functions from loaded dlls
Calling functions
Fundamental data types
Calling functions, continued
Calling functions with your own custom data types
Specifying the required argument types (function prototypes)
Return types
Passing pointers (or: passing parameters by reference)
Structures and unions
Structure/union alignment and byte order
Bit fields in structures and unions
Arrays
Pointers
Type conversions
Incomplete Types
Callback functions
Accessing values exported from dlls
Surprises
Variable-sized data types
ctypes reference
Finding shared libraries
Loading shared libraries
Foreign functions
Function prototypes
Utility functions
Data types
Fundamental data types
Structured data types
Arrays and pointers
Optional Operating System Services
select --- Waiting for I/O completion
Edge and Level Trigger Polling (epoll) Objects
Polling Objects
Kqueue Objects
Kevent Objects
threading --- Higher-level threading interface
Thread Objects
Lock Objects
RLock Objects
Condition Objects
Semaphore Objects
Semaphore Example
Event Objects
Timer Objects
Using locks, conditions, and semaphores in the with statement
Importing in threaded code
thread --- Multiple threads of control
dummy_threading --- Drop-in replacement for the threading module
dummy_thread --- Drop-in replacement for the thread module
multiprocessing --- Process-based "threading" interface
Introduction
The Process class
Exchanging objects between processes
Synchronization between processes
Sharing state between processes
Using a pool of workers
Reference
Process and exceptions
Pipes and Queues
Miscellaneous
Connection Objects
Synchronization primitives
Shared ctypes Objects
The multiprocessing.sharedctypes module
Managers
Namespace objects
Customized managers
Using a remote manager
Proxy Objects
Cleanup
Process Pools
Listeners and Clients
Address Formats
Authentication keys
Logging
The multiprocessing.dummy module
Programming guidelines
All platforms
Windows
Examples
rlcompleter --- Completion function for GNU readline
Completer Objects
Interprocess Communication and Networking
subprocess --- Subprocess management
Using the subprocess Module
Convenience Functions
Exceptions
Security
Popen Objects
Replacing Older Functions with the subprocess Module
Replacing /bin/sh shell backquote
Replacing shell pipeline
Replacing os.system()
Replacing the os.spawn family
Replacing os.popen(), os.popen2(), os.popen3()
Replacing functions from the popen2 module
socket --- Low-level networking interface
Socket Objects
Example
ssl --- SSL wrapper for socket objects
Functions, Constants, and Exceptions
SSLSocket Objects
Certificates
Examples
Testing for SSL support
Client-side operation
Server-side operation
signal --- Set handlers for asynchronous events
Example
popen2 --- Subprocesses with accessible I/O streams
Popen3 and Popen4 Objects
Flow Control Issues
asyncore --- Asynchronous socket handler
asyncore Example basic HTTP client
asynchat --- Asynchronous socket command/response handler
asynchat - Auxiliary Classes
asynchat Example
Internet Data Handling
email --- An email and MIME handling package
email: Representing an email message
email: Parsing email messages
FeedParser API
Parser class API
Additional notes
email: Generating MIME documents
email: Creating email and MIME objects from scratch
email: Internationalized headers
email: Representing character sets
email: Encoders
email: Exception and Defect classes
email: Miscellaneous utilities
email: Iterators
email: Examples
Package History
Differences from mimelib
json --- JSON encoder and decoder
Basic Usage
Encoders and decoders
mailcap --- Mailcap file handling
mailbox --- Manipulate mailboxes in various formats
Mailbox objects
Maildir
mbox
MH
Babyl
MMDF
Message objects
MaildirMessage
mboxMessage
MHMessage
BabylMessage
MMDFMessage
Exceptions
Deprecated classes and methods
Examples
mhlib --- Access to MH mailboxes
MH Objects
Folder Objects
Message Objects
mimetools --- Tools for parsing MIME messages
Additional Methods of Message Objects
mimetypes --- Map filenames to MIME types
MimeTypes Objects
MimeWriter --- Generic MIME file writer
MimeWriter Objects
mimify --- MIME processing of mail messages
multifile --- Support for files containing distinct parts
MultiFile Objects
MultiFile Example
rfc822 --- Parse RFC 2822 mail headers
Message Objects
AddressList Objects
base64 --- RFC 3548: Base16, Base32, Base64 Data Encodings
binhex --- Encode and decode binhex4 files
Notes
binascii --- Convert between binary and ASCII
quopri --- Encode and decode MIME quoted-printable data
uu --- Encode and decode uuencode files
Structured Markup Processing Tools
HTMLParser --- Simple HTML and XHTML parser
Example HTML Parser Application
sgmllib --- Simple SGML parser
htmllib --- A parser for HTML documents
HTMLParser Objects
htmlentitydefs --- Definitions of HTML general entities
xml.parsers.expat --- Fast XML parsing using Expat
XMLParser Objects
ExpatError Exceptions
Example
Content Model Descriptions
Expat error constants
xml.dom --- The Document Object Model API
Module Contents
Objects in the DOM
DOMImplementation Objects
Node Objects
NodeList Objects
DocumentType Objects
Document Objects
Element Objects
Attr Objects
NamedNodeMap Objects
Comment Objects
Text and CDATASection Objects
ProcessingInstruction Objects
Exceptions
Conformance
Type Mapping
Accessor Methods
xml.dom.minidom --- Lightweight DOM implementation
DOM Objects
DOM Example
minidom and the DOM standard
xml.dom.pulldom --- Support for building partial DOM trees
DOMEventStream Objects
xml.sax --- Support for SAX2 parsers
SAXException Objects
xml.sax.handler --- Base classes for SAX handlers
ContentHandler Objects
DTDHandler Objects
EntityResolver Objects
ErrorHandler Objects
xml.sax.saxutils --- SAX Utilities
xml.sax.xmlreader --- Interface for XML parsers
XMLReader Objects
IncrementalParser Objects
Locator Objects
InputSource Objects
The Attributes Interface
The AttributesNS Interface
xml.etree.ElementTree --- The ElementTree XML API
Functions
Element Objects
ElementTree Objects
QName Objects
TreeBuilder Objects
XMLParser Objects
Internet Protocols and Support
webbrowser --- Convenient Web-browser controller
Browser Controller Objects
cgi --- Common Gateway Interface support
Introduction
Using the cgi module
Higher Level Interface
Old classes
Functions
Caring about security
Installing your CGI script on a Unix system
Testing your CGI script
Debugging CGI scripts
Common problems and solutions
cgitb --- Traceback manager for CGI scripts
wsgiref --- WSGI Utilities and Reference Implementation
wsgiref.util -- WSGI environment utilities
wsgiref.headers -- WSGI response header tools
wsgiref.simple_server -- a simple WSGI HTTP server
wsgiref.validate --- WSGI conformance checker
wsgiref.handlers -- server/gateway base classes
Examples
urllib --- Open arbitrary resources by URL
High-level interface
Utility functions
URL Opener objects
urllib Restrictions
Examples
urllib2 --- extensible library for opening URLs
Request Objects
OpenerDirector Objects
BaseHandler Objects
HTTPRedirectHandler Objects
HTTPCookieProcessor Objects
ProxyHandler Objects
HTTPPasswordMgr Objects
AbstractBasicAuthHandler Objects
HTTPBasicAuthHandler Objects
ProxyBasicAuthHandler Objects
AbstractDigestAuthHandler Objects
HTTPDigestAuthHandler Objects
ProxyDigestAuthHandler Objects
HTTPHandler Objects
HTTPSHandler Objects
FileHandler Objects
FTPHandler Objects
CacheFTPHandler Objects
UnknownHandler Objects
HTTPErrorProcessor Objects
Examples
httplib --- HTTP protocol client
HTTPConnection Objects
HTTPResponse Objects
Examples
ftplib --- FTP protocol client
FTP Objects
FTP_TLS Objects
poplib --- POP3 protocol client
POP3 Objects
POP3 Example
imaplib --- IMAP4 protocol client
IMAP4 Objects
IMAP4 Example
nntplib --- NNTP protocol client
NNTP Objects
smtplib --- SMTP protocol client
SMTP Objects
SMTP Example
smtpd --- SMTP Server
SMTPServer Objects
DebuggingServer Objects
PureProxy Objects
MailmanProxy Objects
telnetlib --- Telnet client
Telnet Objects
Telnet Example
uuid --- UUID objects according to RFC 4122
Example
urlparse --- Parse URLs into components
Results of urlparse() and urlsplit()
SocketServer --- A framework for network servers
Server Creation Notes
Server Objects
RequestHandler Objects
Examples
SocketServer.TCPServer Example
SocketServer.UDPServer Example
Asynchronous Mixins
BaseHTTPServer --- Basic HTTP server
More examples
SimpleHTTPServer --- Simple HTTP request handler
CGIHTTPServer --- CGI-capable HTTP request handler
cookielib --- Cookie handling for HTTP clients
CookieJar and FileCookieJar Objects
FileCookieJar subclasses and co-operation with web browsers
CookiePolicy Objects
DefaultCookiePolicy Objects
Cookie Objects
Examples
Cookie --- HTTP state management
Cookie Objects
Morsel Objects
Example
xmlrpclib --- XML-RPC client access
ServerProxy Objects
Boolean Objects
DateTime Objects
Binary Objects
Fault Objects
ProtocolError Objects
MultiCall Objects
Convenience Functions
Example of Client Usage
Example of Client and Server Usage
SimpleXMLRPCServer --- Basic XML-RPC server
SimpleXMLRPCServer Objects
SimpleXMLRPCServer Example
CGIXMLRPCRequestHandler
DocXMLRPCServer --- Self-documenting XML-RPC server
DocXMLRPCServer Objects
DocCGIXMLRPCRequestHandler
Multimedia Services
audioop --- Manipulate raw audio data
imageop --- Manipulate raw image data
aifc --- Read and write AIFF and AIFC files
sunau --- Read and write Sun AU files
AU_read Objects
AU_write Objects
wave --- Read and write WAV files
Wave_read Objects
Wave_write Objects
chunk --- Read IFF chunked data
colorsys --- Conversions between color systems
imghdr --- Determine the type of an image
sndhdr --- Determine type of sound file
Internationalization
gettext --- Multilingual internationalization services
GNU gettext API
Class-based API
The NullTranslations class
The GNUTranslations class
Solaris message catalog support
The Catalog constructor
Internationalizing your programs and modules
Localizing your module
Localizing your application
Changing languages on the fly
Deferred translations
gettext() vs. lgettext()
Acknowledgements
locale --- Internationalization services
Background, details, hints, tips and caveats
For extension writers and programs that embed Python
Access to message catalogs
Program Frameworks
cmd --- Support for line-oriented command interpreters
Cmd Objects
shlex --- Simple lexical analysis
shlex Objects
Parsing Rules
Development Tools
pydoc --- Documentation generator and online help system
doctest --- Test interactive Python examples
Simple Usage: Checking Examples in Docstrings
Simple Usage: Checking Examples in a Text File
How It Works
Which Docstrings Are Examined?
How are Docstring Examples Recognized?
What's the Execution Context?
What About Exceptions?
Option Flags and Directives
Warnings
Basic API
Unittest API
Advanced API
DocTest Objects
Example Objects
DocTestFinder objects
DocTestParser objects
DocTestRunner objects
OutputChecker objects
Debugging
Soapbox
unittest --- Unit testing framework
Basic example
Command Line Interface
failfast, catch and buffer command line options
Test Discovery
Organizing test code
Re-using old test code
Skipping tests and expected failures
Classes and functions
Test cases
Grouping tests
Loading and running tests
load_tests Protocol
Class and Module Fixtures
setUpClass and tearDownClass
setUpModule and tearDownModule
Signal Handling
2to3 - Automated Python 2 to 3 code translation
Using 2to3
Fixers
lib2to3 - 2to3's library
test --- Regression tests package for Python
Writing Unit Tests for the test package
Running tests using test.regrtest
test.test_support --- Utility functions for tests
Debugging and Profiling
bdb --- Debugger framework
pdb --- The Python Debugger
Debugger Commands
The Python Profilers
Introduction to the profilers
Instant User's Manual
What Is Deterministic Profiling?
Reference Manual -- profile and cProfile
The Stats Class
Limitations
Calibration
Extensions --- Deriving Better Profilers
hotshot --- High performance logging profiler
Profile Objects
Using hotshot data
Example Usage
timeit --- Measure execution time of small code snippets
Command Line Interface
Examples
trace --- Trace or track Python statement execution
Command Line Usage
Programming Interface
Python Runtime Services
sys --- System-specific parameters and functions
sysconfig --- Provide access to Python's configuration information
Configuration variables
Installation paths
Other functions
__builtin__ --- Built-in objects
future_builtins --- Python 3 builtins
__main__ --- Top-level script environment
warnings --- Warning control
Warning Categories
The Warnings Filter
Temporarily Suppressing Warnings
Testing Warnings
Updating Code For New Versions of Python
Available Functions
Available Context Managers
contextlib --- Utilities for with-statement contexts
abc --- Abstract Base Classes
atexit --- Exit handlers
atexit Example
traceback --- Print or retrieve a stack traceback
Traceback Examples
__future__ --- Future statement definitions
gc --- Garbage Collector interface
inspect --- Inspect live objects
Types and members
Retrieving source code
Classes and functions
The interpreter stack
site --- Site-specific configuration hook
user --- User-specific configuration hook
distutils --- Building and installing Python modules
Custom Python Interpreters
code --- Interpreter base classes
Interactive Interpreter Objects
Interactive Console Objects
codeop --- Compile Python code
Restricted Execution
rexec --- Restricted execution framework
RExec Objects
Defining restricted environments
An example
Bastion --- Restricting access to objects
Importing Modules
imp --- Access the import internals
Examples
importlib -- Convenience wrappers for __import__()
imputil --- Import utilities
Examples
zipimport --- Import modules from Zip archives
zipimporter Objects
Examples
pkgutil --- Package extension utility
modulefinder --- Find modules used by a script
Example usage of ModuleFinder
runpy --- Locating and executing Python modules
Python Language Services
parser --- Access Python parse trees
Creating ST Objects
Converting ST Objects
Queries on ST Objects
Exceptions and Error Handling
ST Objects
Examples
Emulation of compile()
Information Discovery
Abstract Syntax Trees
Node classes
Abstract Grammar
ast Helpers
symtable --- Access to the compiler's symbol tables
Generating Symbol Tables
Examining Symbol Tables
symbol --- Constants used with Python parse trees
token --- Constants used with Python parse trees
keyword --- Testing for Python keywords
tokenize --- Tokenizer for Python source
tabnanny --- Detection of ambiguous indentation
pyclbr --- Python class browser support
Class Objects
Function Objects
py_compile --- Compile Python source files
compileall --- Byte-compile Python libraries
dis --- Disassembler for Python bytecode
Python Bytecode Instructions
pickletools --- Tools for pickle developers
Python compiler package
The basic interface
Limitations
Python Abstract Syntax
AST Nodes
Assignment nodes
Examples
Using Visitors to Walk ASTs
Bytecode Generation
Miscellaneous Services
formatter --- Generic output formatting
The Formatter Interface
Formatter Implementations
The Writer Interface
Writer Implementations
MS Windows Specific Services
_winreg -- Windows registry access
Constants
HKEY_* Constants
Access Rights
64-bit Specific
Value Types
Registry Handle Objects
Undocumented Modules
Miscellaneous useful utilities
Platform specific modules
Multimedia
Obsolete
SGI-specific Extension modules
IronPython Hosting
Getting Started
Introduction
Samples
Hello World
Calling Python from C#
Exposing Application Object Model
Reference
DLR Hosting APIs
DLR Hosting Overview
High-level Hosting Model Concepts
Level One -- Script Runtimes, Scopes, and Executing Files and Snippets
Code Sample -- Application Programmability
Level Two -- Engines, Compiled Code, Sources, and Object Operations
Code Sample -- REPL and Merlin Web
Level Three -- Full Control, Remoting, Tool Support, and More
ScriptRuntime
ScriptRuntime Members
ScriptScope
ScriptScope Members
ScriptEngine
ScriptEngine Members
ScriptSource
ScriptSource Members
ObjectOperations
ObjectOperations Members
SourceCodeKind
Members
ScriptCodeParseResult
Members
CompiledCode
CompiledCode Members
ScriptRuntimeSetup
ScriptRuntimeSetup Members
Configuration Structure
Default DLR Configuration
LanguageSetup
LanguageSetup Members
ExceptionOperations
ExceptionOperations Members
ScriptIO
ScriptIO Members
ScriptHost
ScriptHost Members
PlatformAdaptionLayer
PlatformAdaptionLayer Members
.NET Interop
Distributing Python Modules
An Introduction to Distutils
Concepts & Terminology
A Simple Example
General Python terminology
Distutils-specific terminology
Writing the Setup Script
Listing whole packages
Listing individual modules
Describing extension modules
Extension names and packages
Extension source files
Preprocessor options
Library options
Other options
Relationships between Distributions and Packages
Installing Scripts
Installing Package Data
Installing Additional Files
Additional meta-data
Debugging the setup script
Writing the Setup Configuration File
Creating a Source Distribution
Specifying the files to distribute
Manifest-related options
The MANIFEST.in template
Principle
Commands
Creating Built Distributions
Creating dumb built distributions
Creating RPM packages
Creating Windows Installers
Cross-compiling on Windows
The Postinstallation script
Vista User Access Control (UAC)
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The .pypirc file
Uploading Packages to the Package Index
PyPI package display
Examples
Pure Python distribution (by module)
Pure Python distribution (by package)
Single extension module
Extending Distutils
Integrating new commands
Adding new distribution types
Command Reference
Installing modules: the install command family
install_data
install_scripts
API Reference
distutils.core --- Core Distutils functionality
distutils.ccompiler --- CCompiler base class
distutils.unixccompiler --- Unix C Compiler
distutils.msvccompiler --- Microsoft Compiler
distutils.bcppcompiler --- Borland Compiler
distutils.cygwincompiler --- Cygwin Compiler
distutils.emxccompiler --- OS/2 EMX Compiler
distutils.archive_util --- Archiving utilities
distutils.dep_util --- Dependency checking
distutils.dir_util --- Directory tree operations
distutils.file_util --- Single file operations
distutils.util --- Miscellaneous other utility functions
distutils.dist --- The Distribution class
distutils.extension --- The Extension class
distutils.debug --- Distutils debug mode
distutils.errors --- Distutils exceptions
distutils.fancy_getopt --- Wrapper around the standard getopt module
distutils.filelist --- The FileList class
distutils.log --- Simple PEP 282-style logging
distutils.spawn --- Spawn a sub-process
distutils.sysconfig --- System configuration information
distutils.text_file --- The TextFile class
distutils.version --- Version number classes
distutils.cmd --- Abstract base class for Distutils commands
distutils.command --- Individual Distutils commands
distutils.command.bdist --- Build a binary installer
distutils.command.bdist_packager --- Abstract base class for packagers
distutils.command.bdist_dumb --- Build a "dumb" installer
distutils.command.bdist_msi --- Build a Microsoft Installer binary package
distutils.command.bdist_rpm --- Build a binary distribution as a Redhat RPM and SRPM
distutils.command.bdist_wininst --- Build a Windows installer
distutils.command.sdist --- Build a source distribution
distutils.command.build --- Build all files of a package
distutils.command.build_clib --- Build any C libraries in a package
distutils.command.build_ext --- Build any extensions in a package
distutils.command.build_py --- Build the .py/.pyc files of a package
distutils.command.build_scripts --- Build the scripts of a package
distutils.command.clean --- Clean a package build area
distutils.command.config --- Perform package configuration
distutils.command.install --- Install a package
distutils.command.install_data --- Install data files from a package
distutils.command.install_headers --- Install C/C++ header files from a package
distutils.command.install_lib --- Install library files from a package
distutils.command.install_scripts --- Install script files from a package
distutils.command.register --- Register a module with the Python Package Index
Creating a new Distutils command
Installing Python Modules
Introduction
Best case: trivial installation
The new standard: Distutils
Standard Build and Install
Platform variations
Splitting the job up
How building works
How installation works
Alternate Installation
Alternate installation: the home scheme
Alternate installation: Unix (the prefix scheme)
Alternate installation: Windows (the prefix scheme)
Custom Installation
Modifying Python's Search Path
Distutils Configuration Files
Location and names of config files
Syntax of config files
Building Extensions: Tips and Tricks
Tweaking compiler/linker flags
Using non-Microsoft compilers on Windows
Borland/CodeGear C++
GNU C / Cygwin / MinGW
Documenting Python
Introduction
Style Guide
reStructuredText Primer
Paragraphs
Inline markup
Lists and Quotes
Source Code
Hyperlinks
External links
Internal links
Sections
Explicit Markup
Directives
Footnotes
Comments
Source encoding
Gotchas
Additional Markup Constructs
Meta-information markup
Module-specific markup
Information units
Showing code examples
Inline markup
Cross-linking markup
Paragraph-level markup
Table-of-contents markup
Index-generating markup
Grammar production displays
Substitutions
Differences to the LaTeX markup
Inline markup
Information units
Structure
Building the documentation
Using make
Without make
Python HOWTOs
Python Advocacy HOWTO
Reasons to Use Python
Programmability
Prototyping
Simplicity and Ease of Understanding
Java Integration
Arguments and Rebuttals
Useful Resources
Porting Extension Modules to 3.0
Conditional compilation
Changes to Object APIs
str/unicode Unification
long/int Unification
Module initialization and state
Other options
Curses Programming with Python
What is curses?
The Python curses module
Starting and ending a curses application
Windows and Pads
Displaying Text
Attributes and Color
User Input
For More Information
Descriptor HowTo Guide
Abstract
Definition and Introduction
Descriptor Protocol
Invoking Descriptors
Descriptor Example
Properties
Functions and Methods
Static Methods and Class Methods
Idioms and Anti-Idioms in Python
Language Constructs You Should Not Use
from module import *
Inside Function Definitions
At Module Level
When It Is Just Fine
Unadorned exec, execfile() and friends
from module import name1, name2
except:
Exceptions
Using the Batteries
Using Backslash to Continue Statements
Functional Programming HOWTO
Introduction
Formal provability
Modularity
Ease of debugging and testing
Composability
Iterators
Data Types That Support Iterators
Generator expressions and list comprehensions
Generators
Passing values into a generator
Built-in functions
Small functions and the lambda expression
The itertools module
Creating new iterators
Calling functions on elements
Selecting elements
Grouping elements
The functools module
The operator module
The functional module
Revision History and Acknowledgements
References
General
Python-specific
Python documentation
Regular Expression HOWTO
Introduction
Simple Patterns
Matching Characters
Repeating Things
Using Regular Expressions
Compiling Regular Expressions
The Backslash Plague
Performing Matches
Module-Level Functions
Compilation Flags
More Pattern Power
More Metacharacters
Grouping
Non-capturing and Named Groups
Lookahead Assertions
Modifying Strings
Splitting Strings
Search and Replace
Common Problems
Use String Methods
match() versus search()
Greedy versus Non-Greedy
Not Using re.VERBOSE
Feedback
Socket Programming HOWTO
Sockets
History
Creating a Socket
IPC
Using a Socket
Binary Data
Disconnecting
When Sockets Die
Non-blocking Sockets
Performance
Sorting HOW TO
Sorting Basics
Key Functions
Operator Module Functions
Ascending and Descending
Sort Stability and Complex Sorts
The Old Way Using Decorate-Sort-Undecorate
The Old Way Using the cmp Parameter
Odd and Ends
Unicode HOWTO
Introduction to Unicode
History of Character Codes
Definitions
Encodings
References
Python 2.x's Unicode Support
The Unicode Type
Unicode Literals in Python Source Code
Unicode Properties
References
Reading and Writing Unicode Data
Unicode filenames
Tips for Writing Unicode-aware Programs
References
Revision History and Acknowledgements
HOWTO Fetch Internet Resources Using urllib2
Introduction
Fetching URLs
Data
Headers
Handling Exceptions
URLError
HTTPError
Error Codes
Wrapping it Up
Number 1
Number 2
info and geturl
Openers and Handlers
Basic Authentication
Proxies
Sockets and Layers
Footnotes
HOWTO Use Python in the web
The Low-Level View
Common Gateway Interface
Simple script for testing CGI
Setting up CGI on your own server
Common problems with CGI scripts
mod_python
FastCGI and SCGI
Setting up FastCGI
mod_wsgi
Step back: WSGI
WSGI Servers
Case study: MoinMoin
Model-View-Controller
Ingredients for Websites
Templates
Data persistence
Frameworks
Some notable frameworks
Django
TurboGears
Zope
Other notable frameworks
IronPython .NET API Reference Manual
Extending IronPython with C#
A Simple Example
Parsing and Tokenizing
Python Frequently Asked Questions
General Python FAQ
General Information
Python in the real world
Upgrading Python
Programming FAQ
General Questions
Core Language
Numbers and strings
Sequences (Tuples/Lists)
Dictionaries
Objects
Modules
Design and History FAQ
Why does Python use indentation for grouping of statements?
Why am I getting strange results with simple arithmetic operations?
Why are floating point calculations so inaccurate?
Why are Python strings immutable?
Why must 'self' be used explicitly in method definitions and calls?
Why can't I use an assignment in an expression?
Why does Python use methods for some functionality (e.g. list.index()) but functions for other (e.g. len(list))?
Why is join() a string method instead of a list or tuple method?
How fast are exceptions?
Why isn't there a switch or case statement in Python?
Can't you emulate threads in the interpreter instead of relying on an OS-specific thread implementation?
Why can't lambda forms contain statements?
Can Python be compiled to machine code, C or some other language?
How does Python manage memory?
Why isn't all memory freed when Python exits?
Why are there separate tuple and list data types?
How are lists implemented?
How are dictionaries implemented?
Why must dictionary keys be immutable?
Why doesn't list.sort() return the sorted list?
How do you specify and enforce an interface spec in Python?
Why are default values shared between objects?
Why is there no goto?
Why can't raw strings (r-strings) end with a backslash?
Why doesn't Python have a "with" statement for attribute assignments?
Why are colons required for the if/while/def/class statements?
Why does Python allow commas at the end of lists and tuples?
Library and Extension FAQ
General Library Questions
Common tasks
Threads
Input and Output
Network/Internet Programming
Databases
Mathematics and Numerics
Extending/Embedding FAQ
Can I create my own functions in C?
Can I create my own functions in C++?
Writing C is hard; are there any alternatives?
How can I execute arbitrary Python statements from C?
How can I evaluate an arbitrary Python expression from C?
How do I extract C values from a Python object?
How do I use Py_BuildValue() to create a tuple of arbitrary length?
How do I call an object's method from C?
How do I catch the output from PyErr_Print() (or anything that prints to stdout/stderr)?
How do I access a module written in Python from C?
How do I interface to C++ objects from Python?
I added a module using the Setup file and the make fails; why?
How do I debug an extension?
I want to compile a Python module on my Linux system, but some files are missing. Why?
What does "SystemError: _PyImport_FixupExtension: module yourmodule not loaded" mean?
How do I tell "incomplete input" from "invalid input"?
How do I find undefined g++ symbols __builtin_new or __pure_virtual?
Can I create an object class with some methods implemented in C and others in Python (e.g. through inheritance)?
When importing module X, why do I get "undefined symbol: PyUnicodeUCS2*"?
Python on Windows FAQ
How do I run a Python program under Windows?
How do I make Python scripts executable?
Why does Python sometimes take so long to start?
Where is Freeze for Windows?
Is a *.pyd file the same as a DLL?
How can I embed Python into a Windows application?
How do I use Python for CGI?
How do I keep editors from inserting tabs into my Python source?
How do I check for a keypress without blocking?
How do I emulate os.kill() in Windows?
Why does os.path.isdir() fail on NT shared directories?
cgi.py (or other CGI programming) doesn't work sometimes on NT or win95!
Why doesn't os.popen() work in PythonWin on NT?
Why doesn't os.popen()/win32pipe.popen() work on Win9x?
PyRun_SimpleFile() crashes on Windows but not on Unix; why?
Importing _tkinter fails on Windows 95/98: why?
How do I extract the downloaded documentation on Windows?
Missing cw3215mt.dll (or missing cw3215.dll)
Warning about CTL3D32 version from installer
Graphic User Interface FAQ
What platform-independent GUI toolkits exist for Python?
What platform-specific GUI toolkits exist for Python?
Tkinter questions
"Why is Python Installed on my Computer?" FAQ
What is Python?
Why is Python installed on my machine?
Can I delete Python?
Glossary
About these documents
Contributors to the Python Documentation
Reporting Bugs
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Copyright
History and License
History of the IronPython
History of Python
IronPython License
Terms and conditions for accessing or otherwise using Python
Licenses and Acknowledgements for Incorporated Software
Mersenne Twister
Sockets
Floating point exception control
MD5 message digest algorithm
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Profiling
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UUencode and UUdecode functions
XML Remote Procedure Calls
test_epoll
Select kqueue
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