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Mastering Python 2E

You're reading from   Mastering Python 2E Write powerful and efficient code using the full range of Python's capabilities

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Product type Paperback
Published in May 2022
Last Updated in May 2022
Publisher Packt
ISBN-13 9781800207721
Length 710 pages
Edition 2nd Edition
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Author (1):
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Rick Hattem Rick Hattem
Author Profile Icon Rick Hattem
Rick Hattem
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Table of Contents (21) Chapters Close

Preface 1. Getting Started – One Environment per Project FREE CHAPTER 2. Interactive Python Interpreters 3. Pythonic Syntax and Common Pitfalls 4. Pythonic Design Patterns 5. Functional Programming – Readability Versus Brevity 6. Decorators – Enabling Code Reuse by Decorating 7. Generators and Coroutines – Infinity, One Step at a Time 8. Metaclasses – Making Classes (Not Instances) Smarter 9. Documentation – How to Use Sphinx and reStructuredText 10. Testing and Logging – Preparing for Bugs 11. Debugging – Solving the Bugs 12. Performance – Tracking and Reducing Your Memory and CPU Usage 13. asyncio – Multithreading without Threads 14. Multiprocessing – When a Single CPU Core Is Not Enough 15. Scientific Python and Plotting 16. Artificial Intelligence 17. Extensions in C/C++, System Calls, and C/C++ Libraries 18. Packaging – Creating Your Own Libraries or Applications 19. Other Books You May Enjoy
20. Index

A brief history of Python

The Python project started in December 1989 as a hobby project for Guido van Rossum during his week off around Christmas. His goal was to write an easy-to-use successor for the ABC programming language and to fix the issues that limited the applicability of the it. One of the main design goals of Python is, and has always been, readability. That is what the first part of the chapter is about: readability.

To facilitate new features and to maintain that readability, the Python Enhancement Proposal (PEP) process was developed. This process allows anyone to submit a PEP for a new feature, library, or other addition. After a discussion on the Python mailing lists and some improvements, a decision is made to either accept or reject the proposal.

The Python style guide (PEP 8: https://peps.python.org/pep-0008/) was once submitted as one of those PEPs, was accepted, and has been improved regularly ever since. It has a lot of great and widely accepted conventions...

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