Learning Python

Python Software

The Standard Python Distribution

The most essential piece of Python software is clearly the Python interpreter itself. It’s available in many formats for a variety of platforms. We defer discussion of the platform-specific issues until Appendix B. In general, the most reliable way to get an up-to-date distribution is to download it from the main Python web site (http://www.python.org). The Python web site is maintained by volunteers from the Python Software Association (see the next sidebar, The Python Software Association (PSA) and the Python Consortium), a group dedicated to the long-term success of Python. If you’d rather get Python binaries on a CD, Walnut Creek has a Python CD-ROM available that includes binaries for all common platforms (Windows, Macs, many versions of Unix, BeOS, and VMS). The URL for the last distribution available at time of writing is http://www.cdrom.com/titles/prog/python.htm, but check the Walnut Creek catalog for eventual newer releases. As described in Appendix B, most Linux distributions include Python. Both Programming Python and Internet Programming with Python (see Section 1.3.3) also come with CDs that include Python distributions.

The standard distribution comes with hundreds of modules, both in C and Python. These modules are all officially supported by Guido and his crew (unless otherwise noted; when replaced by newer tools, old modules are kept for a few years to give users time to upgrade their software, and support for ...