Overview

This book comprises 10 chapters (not including this one). The chapters build on one another, so unless you've already had some exposure to Python you'll need to follow them in order. We'll start with getting Python installed into your system and orienting you a bit.

We'll then cover language elements, features, idioms, and libraries, all driven by working examples that you'll be able to build along with the text. We're firm believers that you'll learn more by doing than by just reading, so we encourage you to run the examples yourself.

By the end of the book you'll know the fundamentals of the Python language. You'll also know how to use third-party libraries, and you'll know the basics of developing them yourself. We'll even cover the basics of testing so that you can ensure and maintain the quality of the code you develop.

The chapters are:

1. Getting started: We go through installing Python, look at some of the basic Python tools, and cover the core elements of the language and syntax.

2. Strings and Collections: We look at some of the fundamental complex data types: strings, byte sequences, lists, and dictionaries.

3. Modularity: We look at the tools Python has for structuring your code, such as functions and modules.

4. Built-in types and the object model: We examine Python's type system and object system in detail, and we develop a strong sense of Python’s reference semantics.

5. Exploring Built-in Collection Types: We go into more depth on some of the Python collection types, as well as introduce a few more.

6. Exceptions: We learn about Python's exception-handling system and the central role that exceptions play in the language.

7. Comprehensions, iterables, and generators: We explore the elegant, pervasive, and powerful sequence-oriented parts of Python such as comprehensions and generator functions.

8. Defining new types with classes: We cover developing your own complex data types in Python using classes to support object-oriented programming.

9. Files and Resource Management: We look at how to work with files in Python, and we cover the tools Python has for Resource Management.

10. Unit testing with the Python standard library: We show you how to use Python's unittest package to produce defect-free code that works as expected.