Introduction

I was excited when my editor asked me to write a phrasebook on the Python language. The phrasebook is one of the smallest books I have ever written; however, it was one of the hardest.

The idea of a conventional phrasebook is to provide readers with quick phrases that actually mean something in the language. The Python phrasebook is designed to provide you with meaningful Python phrases that you can actually understand and use to quickly begin programming Python applications.

The content of this book are based on Python 2.4. You should keep in mind that the Python language is constantly being added to. I would recommend visiting the Python website at http://www.python.org to familiarize yourself with accessing the online documentation, available extensions, and any changes that are occurring.

This book is not a reference manual or language guide that encompasses the entire languagethat's not the purpose. The purpose is to provide you with a small, simple-to-use phrasebook that will get you going and provide a quick, easy reference later as you delve into new areas of the language.

When designing the content for this book, I tried to come up with the most relevant and interesting phrases that will actually help programs accomplish tasks that are pertinent to real-world needs. I welcome your comments and any phrases that you feel really need to be added to this book.

Note

Almost all the sample code used in this book is taken from actual working files. For your convenience, the Python scripts, CGI scripts, and HTML and XML documents that are shown as examples in the phrases of this book are available for download from the publisher's website. Register your book at www.samspublishing.com/register and download the code examples from this book. Feel free to modify them for your own needs.

I hope that you enjoy the phrases in this book and that they will be useful to you.