Programming Python, 3rd Edition

This Book’s Motivation

Over the 10 years since the first edition of this book was written, Python has transitioned from an emerging language that was of interest primarily to pioneers to a widely accepted tool used by programmers for day-to-day development tasks. Along the way, the Python audience has changed as well, and this book has been refocused with this new readership in mind. You will find that it is a nuts-and-bolts text, geared less toward introducing and popularizing the language and more toward showing you how to apply Python for realistically scaled programming tasks.

So, What’s Python?

If you are looking for a concise definition of this book’s topic, try this:

Python is a general-purpose, open source computer programming language optimized for quality, productivity, portability, and integration. It is used by hundreds of thousands of developers around the world in areas such as Internet scripting, systems programming, user interfaces, product customization, and more.

As a popular programming language that shrinks the development time, Python is used in a wide variety of products and roles. Counted among its current user base are Google, Industrial Light & Magic, ESRI, the BitTorrent file sharing system, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab, and the U.S. National Weather Service. Python’s application domains range from system administration, web site development, cell phone scripting, and education to hardware testing, investment analysis, computer games, and spacecraft control.