Learning Python: Powerful Object-Oriented Programming

Google and YouTube use Python because it's highly adaptable, easy to maintain, and allows for rapid development. If you want to write high-quality, efficient code that's easily integrated with other languages and tools, this hands-on book will help you be productive with Python quickly -- whether you're new to programming or just new to Python. It's an easy-to-follow self-paced tutorial, based on author and Python expert Mark Lutz's popular training course. Each chapter contains a stand-alone lesson on a key component of the language, and includes a unique **Test Your Knowledge section with practical exercises and quizzes, so you can practice new skills and test your understanding as you go. You'll find lots of annotated examples and illustrations to help you get started with Python 3.0.** * Learn about Python's major built-in object types, such as numbers, lists, and dictionaries * Create and process objects using Python statements, and learn Python's general syntax model * Structure and reuse code using functions, Python's basic procedural tool * Learn about Python modules: packages of statements, functions, and other tools, organized into larger components * Discover Python's object-oriented programming tool for structuring code * Learn about the exception-handling model, and development tools for writing larger programs * Explore advanced Python tools including decorators, descriptors, metaclasses, and Unicode processing The authors of Learning Python show you enough essentials of the Python scripting language to enable you to begin solving problems right away, then reveal more powerful aspects of the language one at a time. This approach is sure to appeal to programmers and system administrators who have urgent problems and a preference for learning by semi-guided experimentation.First off, Learning Python shows the relationships among Python scripts and their interpreter (in a mostly platform-neutral way). Then, the authors address the mechanics of the language itself, providing illustrations of how Python conceives of numbers, strings, and other objects as well as the operators you use to work with them. Dictionaries, lists, tuples, and other data structures specific to Python receive plenty of attention including complete examples.Authors Mark Lutz and David Ascher build on that fundamental information in their discussions of functions and modules, which evolve into coverage of namespaces, classes, and the object-oriented aspects of Python programming. There's also information on creating graphical user interfaces (GUIs) for Python applications with Tkinter.In addition to its careful expository prose, Learning Python includes exercises that both test your Python skills and help reveal more elusive truths about the language. — This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. Describes the features of the Python 2.5 programming language, covering such topics as types and operations, statements and syntax, functions, modules, classes and OOP, and exceptions and tools.