The Hitchhiker's Guide to Python

Preface

Python is big. Really big. You just won’t believe how vastly hugely mind-bogglingly big it is.

This guide is not intended to teach you the Python language (we cite lots of great resources that do that) but is rather an (opinionated) insider’s guide to our community’s favorite tools and best practices. The primary audience is new to mid-level Python programmers who are interested in contributing to open source or in beginning a career or starting a company using Python, although casual Python users should also find Part I and Chapter 5 helpful.

The first part will help you choose the text editor or interactive development environment that fits your situation (for example, those using Java frequently may prefer Eclipse with a Python plug-in) and surveys options for other interpreters that may meet needs you don’t yet know Python could address (e.g., there’s a MicroPython implementation based around the ARM Cortex-M4 chip). The second section demonstrates Pythonic style by highlighting exemplary code in the open source community that will hopefully encourage more in-depth reading and experimentation with open source code. The final section briefly surveys the vast galaxy of libraries most commonly used in the Python community—providing an idea of the scope of what Python can do right now.

All of the royalties from the print version of this book will be directly donated to the Django Girls, a giddily joyous global organization dedicated to organizing free Django and Python ...