Python All-in-One For Dummies

Chapter 4

Libraries, Packages, and Modules

IN THIS CHAPTER

Understanding the standard library

Exploring Python packages

Importing Python modules

Creating your own Python modules

For the most part, all the chapters leading up to this one have focused on the core Python language, the elements of the language you’ll need no matter how you intend to use Python in the future. But as you’ve seen, many programs start by importing one or more modules. Each module is essentially a collection of pre-written code that you can use in your own code without having to reinvent that wheel. The granddaddy of all this pre-written specialized code is called the Python standard library.

Understanding the Python Standard Library

The Python standard library is basically all the stuff you get when you get the Python languages. That includes all the Python data types like string, integer, float, and Boolean. Every instance of those data types is actually an instance of a class defined in the standard library. For this reason, the terms type, instance, and object are often used interchangeably. An integer ...