Appendix B. Online Resources

Python is software available from the Internet, and Python's best day-to-day resources can all be found there. This appendix describes the software that is used in this book and how to install it.

Most Python-related software can be downloaded for free, and much of it can be downloaded as source code and compiled — for those of you interested in doing that for yourself. For those readers who begin with the second part of the book, this may be the challenge you're looking for. However, the broader audience for this book will be glad to know that everything you need to follow along with the book's examples can be installed as packages for the operating systems on which they are supported.

Software

The examples in this book require that your computer have additional software installed, as well as an appropriate and functioning operating system such as Windows 2000, XP, XP Pro, 2003, or Vista; Linux (Red Hat's Fedora RC3 or newer; Debian testing or unstable; or a similarly current distribution), Ubuntu, or Mac OSX.

Following is a brief list of the required software, with a description and the URL from which the software can be downloaded:

  • Python: www.python.org/ is the home page for the Python language. You can find out about all things Python there, including additional online tutorials, introductions to the language, and mailing lists to help you out. The people who write, maintain, change, and use Python are there. You can find a complete, if terse, set of ...

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