| .. _tutorial-index: |
| |
| ###################### |
| The Python Tutorial |
| ###################### |
| |
| :Release: |version| |
| :Date: |today| |
| |
| Python is an easy to learn, powerful programming language. It has efficient |
| high-level data structures and a simple but effective approach to |
| object-oriented programming. Python's elegant syntax and dynamic typing, |
| together with its interpreted nature, make it an ideal language for scripting |
| and rapid application development in many areas on most platforms. |
| |
| The Python interpreter and the extensive standard library are freely available |
| in source or binary form for all major platforms from the Python Web site, |
| http://www.python.org/, and may be freely distributed. The same site also |
| contains distributions of and pointers to many free third party Python modules, |
| programs and tools, and additional documentation. |
| |
| The Python interpreter is easily extended with new functions and data types |
| implemented in C or C++ (or other languages callable from C). Python is also |
| suitable as an extension language for customizable applications. |
| |
| This tutorial introduces the reader informally to the basic concepts and |
| features of the Python language and system. It helps to have a Python |
| interpreter handy for hands-on experience, but all examples are self-contained, |
| so the tutorial can be read off-line as well. |
| |
| For a description of standard objects and modules, see :ref:`library-index`. |
| :ref:`reference-index` gives a more formal definition of the language. To write |
| extensions in C or C++, read :ref:`extending-index` and |
| :ref:`c-api-index`. There are also several books covering Python in depth. |
| |
| This tutorial does not attempt to be comprehensive and cover every single |
| feature, or even every commonly used feature. Instead, it introduces many of |
| Python's most noteworthy features, and will give you a good idea of the |
| language's flavor and style. After reading it, you will be able to read and |
| write Python modules and programs, and you will be ready to learn more about the |
| various Python library modules described in :ref:`library-index`. |
| |
| The :ref:`glossary` is also worth going through. |
| |
| .. toctree:: |
| :numbered: |
| |
| appetite.rst |
| interpreter.rst |
| introduction.rst |
| controlflow.rst |
| datastructures.rst |
| modules.rst |
| inputoutput.rst |
| errors.rst |
| classes.rst |
| stdlib.rst |
| stdlib2.rst |
| whatnow.rst |
| interactive.rst |
| floatingpoint.rst |