Python Standard Library (Nutshell Handbooks) with

by Fredrik Lundh

Python Standard Library is an essential guide for serious Python programmers. Python is a modular language that imports most useful operations from the standard library (basic support modules; operating system interfaces; network protocols; file formats; data conversions; threads and processes; and data storage). You can't really program in Python without using it. In this book, author Fredrik Lundh, creator of the Python Imaging Library (PIL), delivers tested, accurate documentation of all the modules in the Python Standard Library, along with over 300 annotated example scripts using the modules. Python Standard Library renders this valuable information in a clean, easy-to-read format, yet doesn't talk down to readers. This accurate and complete reference documentation is for the Python programmer who wants the facts and little else. The book is based on the author's work with the Python he reviewed more than 2500 questions and answers to that newsgroup in order to make sure the book covered what Python users really wanted to know. An earlier version of this book has been available electronically for over a year, so the material has been tested by Python programmers in real-life applications. This version of Python Standard Library covers all the new modules and related information for Python 2.0, the first new major release of Python in four years.

Genres: Reference, Technical

300 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2001

Reviews

[Dave Peticolas · Rating 3 out of 5]

From the title, I expected this to be a thorough reference to the standard Python modules, but instead it is a collection of sample scripts which illustrate the basic usage of the standard modules. In that respect it is similar to the Python Cookbook, but the Cookbook has better recipes and more in-depth discussions of the recipes. Also, this book only covers up to Python 2.0 and is thus somewhat out of date. For example, it covers the obsolete 'rfc822' module, but not the new 'email' module. Also, this book has at least one glaring error -- it claims that XML is an application of SGML, which is simply not true. XML is a full-blown meta-markup language like SGML.

Recommendation: skip this and get the Python Cookbook instead.

[Phil · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a great example of a book whose contents is much more available and accessible online. There is really no reason for this to exist in print. It goes through all of the modules in the Python Standard library, giving a brief description of each and possibly an example. That's it. You're better off just looking in the documentation online for what you need to know. Possibly useful as a reference, but nothing else.