Preface The Python programming language manages to reconcile many apparent contra- dictions: it's both elegant and pragmatic, simple and powerful, a high-level language that doesn't get in your way when you want to fiddle with bits and bytes, suitable for programming novices and great for experts too. This book is aimed at programmers with some previous exposure to Python, as well as experienced programmers coming to Python for the first time from other pro- gramming languages. The book is a quick reference to Python itself, the most im- portant parts of its vast standard library, and some of the most popular and useful third-party modules, covering a range of applications including web and network programming, GUIs, XML handling, database interactions, and high-speed numeric computing. It focuses on Python's cross-platform capabilities and covers the basics of extending Python and embedding it in other applications, using either C or Java. How This Book Is Organized This book has five parts, as follows: Part I, Getting Started with Python · Chapter 1 covers the general characteristics of the Python language and its implementations, and discusses where to get help and information. · Chapter 2 explains how to obtain and install Python. · Chapter 3 covers the Python interpreter program, its command-line options, and its use for running Python programs and in interactive sessions. The chapter also mentions text editors that are particularly suitable for editing Python programs, and examines some full-fledged integrated development environments, including IDLE, which comes free with standard Python. xxi