12. What Now?
Reading this tutorial has probably reinforced your interest in using Python -- you should be eager to apply Python to solving your real-world problems. Where should you go to learn more?
This tutorial is part of Python's documentation set. Some other documents in the set are:
- Python Library Reference:
You should browse through this manual, which gives complete (though terse) reference material about types, functions, and the modules in the standard library. The standard Python distribution includes a lot of additional code. There are modules to read Unix mailboxes, retrieve documents via HTTP, generate random numbers, parse command-line options, write CGI programs, compress data, and many other tasks. Skimming through the Library Reference will give you an idea of what's available.
- Installing Python Modules
explains how to install external modules written by other Python
users.
- Language Reference: A detailed
explanation of Python's syntax and semantics. It's heavy reading,
but is useful as a complete guide to the language itself.
More Python resources:
- http://www.python.org: The major Python Web site. It contains
code, documentation, and pointers to Python-related pages around the
Web. This Web site is mirrored in various places around the
world, such as Europe, Japan, and Australia; a mirror may be faster
than the main site, depending on your geographical location.
- http://docs.python.org: Fast access to Python's
documentation.
- http://cheeseshop.python.org:
The Python Package Index, nicknamed the Cheese Shop,
is an index of user-created Python modules that are available for
download. Once you begin releasing code, you can register it
here so that others can find it.
- http://aspn.activestate.com/ASPN/Python/Cookbook/: The
Python Cookbook is a sizable collection of code examples, larger
modules, and useful scripts. Particularly notable contributions are
collected in a book also titled Python Cookbook (O'Reilly
& Associates, ISBN 0-596-00797-3.)
For Python-related questions and problem reports, you can post to the newsgroup comp.lang.python, or send them to the mailing list at [email protected]. The newsgroup and mailing list are gatewayed, so messages posted to one will automatically be forwarded to the other. There are around 120 postings a day (with peaks up to several hundred), asking (and answering) questions, suggesting new features, and announcing new modules. Before posting, be sure to check the list of Frequently Asked Questions (also called the FAQ), or look for it in the Misc/ directory of the Python source distribution. Mailing list archives are available at http://mail.python.org/pipermail/. The FAQ answers many of the questions that come up again and again, and may already contain the solution for your problem.
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Release 2.5, documentation updated on 19th September, 2006.