Python Cookbook

Further Reading

There are many texts available to help you learn Python or refine your Python knowledge, from introductory texts all the way to quite formal language descriptions.

We recommend the following books for general information about Python:

• Learning Python, by Mark Lutz and David Ascher (O’Reilly), is a thorough introduction to the fundamentals of the Python language.

• Python Standard Library, by Fredrik Lundh (O’Reilly), provides a use case for each module in the rich library that comes with every standard Python distribution.

• Programming Python, by Mark Lutz (O’Reilly), is a thorough rundown of Python programming techniques.

• The forthcoming Python in a Nutshell, by Alex Martelli (O’Reilly), is a comprehensive quick reference to the Python language and the key libraries used by most Python programmers.

• Python Essential Reference, by David Beazley (New Riders), is a quick reference that focuses on the Python language and the core Python libraries.

In addition, there are a few more special-purpose books that help you explore particular aspects of Python programming:

• Python & XML, by Christopher A. Jones and Fred L. Drake, Jr. (O’Reilly), covers everything there is to know about how to use Python to read, process, and transform XML.

• Jython Essentials, by Samuele Pedroni and Noel Rappin (O’Reilly), is the authoritative book on Jython, the port of Python to the Java Virtual Machine (JVM).

• Python Web Programming, by Steve Holden (New Riders), covers building networked systems ...