Python Pocket Reference, 3rd Edition

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Python Pocket Reference

Conventions

The following conventions are used in this book:

[]

Items in brackets are usually optional. The exceptions

are

those cases where brackets are part of Python’s syntax.

*

Something followed by an asterisk can be repeated zero

or more times.

a | b

Items separated by a bar are often alternatives.

Italic

Used for filenames and URLs and to highlight new terms.

Constant width

Used for code, commands, and command-line options,

and to indicate the names of modules, functions,

attributes, variables, and methods.

Constant width italic

Used for replaceable parameter names in command syntax.

Command-Line Options

python [option*]

[ scriptfilename | -c command | -m module | - ] [arg*]

Python Options

-d

Turns on parser debugging output (for developers of the

Python core).

-E

Ignores environment variables (such as PYTHONPATH).

Command-Line Options

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-h

Prints help message and exit.

-i

Enters interactive mode after executing a script, without

reading the

PYTHONSTARTUP file. Useful for postmortem

debugging.

-O

Optimizes generated byte-code (create and use .pyo byte-

code files). Currently yields a minor performance

improvement.

-OO

Operates like -O, the previous option, but also removes

docstrings from byte-code.

-Q arg

Division options: -Qold (default), -Qwarn, -Qwarnall, -Qnew.

-S

Doesn’t imply “import ...