mirror of
https://github.com/python/cpython.git
synced 2025-11-04 03:44:55 +00:00
47 lines
2.5 KiB
TeX
47 lines
2.5 KiB
TeX
\chapter{Introduction}
|
|
|
|
The ``Python library'' contains several different kinds of components.
|
|
|
|
It contains data types that would normally be considered part of the
|
|
``core'' of a language, such as numbers and lists. For these types,
|
|
the Python language core defines the form of literals and places some
|
|
constraints on their semantics, but does not fully define the
|
|
semantics. (On the other hand, the language core does define
|
|
syntactic properties like the spelling and priorities of operators.)
|
|
|
|
The library also contains built-in functions and exceptions ---
|
|
objects that can be used by all Python code without the need of an
|
|
\code{import} statement. Some of these are defined by the core
|
|
language, but many are not essential for the core semantics and are
|
|
only described here.
|
|
|
|
The bulk of the library, however, consists of a collection of modules.
|
|
There are many ways to dissect this collection. Some modules are
|
|
written in C and built in to the Python interpreter; others are
|
|
written in Python and imported in source form. Some modules provide
|
|
interfaces that are highly specific to Python, like printing a stack
|
|
trace; some provide interfaces that are specific to particular
|
|
operating systems, like socket I/O; others provide interfaces that are
|
|
specific to a particular application domain, like the World-Wide Web.
|
|
Some modules are avaiable in all versions and ports of Python; others
|
|
are only available when the underlying system supports or requires
|
|
them; yet others are available only when a particular configuration
|
|
option was chosen at the time when Python was compiled and installed.
|
|
|
|
This manual is organized ``from the inside out'': it first describes
|
|
the built-in data types, then the built-in functions and exceptions,
|
|
and finally the modules, grouped in chapters of related modules. The
|
|
ordering of the chapters as well as the ordering of the modules within
|
|
each chapter is roughly from most relevant to least important.
|
|
|
|
This means that if you start reading this manual from the start, and
|
|
skip to the next chapter when you get bored, you will get a reasonable
|
|
overview of the available modules and application areas that are
|
|
supported by the Python library. Of course, you don't \emph{have} to
|
|
read it like a novel --- you can also browse the table of contents (in
|
|
front of the manual), or look for a specific function, module or term
|
|
in the index (in the back). And finally, if you enjoy learning about
|
|
random subjects, you choose a random page number (see module
|
|
\code{rand}) and read a section or two.
|
|
|
|
Let the show begin!
|