Python 2.6 Quick Reference

Python2.6QuickReference
Frontmatter
InvocationOptions
Environmentvariables
Lexicalentities:keywords,identifiers,stringliterals,booleanconstants,numbers,sequences,dictionaries,operators
Basictypesandtheiroperations:None,bool,Numerictypes,sequencetypes,list,dictionary,string,file,set,namedtuples,date/time
Advancedtypes
Statements:assignment,conditionalexpressions,controlflow,exceptions,namespace,functiondef,classdef
Iterators;Generators;Descriptors;Decorators
Built-inFunctions
Built-inExceptions
Standardmethods&operatorsredefinitioninuser-createdClasses
Specialinformativestateattributesforsometypes
Importantmodules:sys,os,posix,posixpath,shutil,time,string,re,math,getopt
Listofmodulesinthebasedistribution
Workspaceexplorationandidiomhints
PythonmodeforEmacsVersion2.6(What'snew?)Checkupdatesat(pqratrgruet.net).CreativeCommonsLicense.LastupdatedonFebruary10,2009.Feb10,2008upgradedbyRichardGruetandJoshStoneforPython2.6Dec14,2006upgradedbyRichardGruetforPython2.5Feb17,2005,upgradedbyRichardGruetforPython2.4Oct3,2003upgradedbyRichardGruetforPython2.3May11,2003,rev4upgradedbyRichardGruetforPython2.2(restyledbyAndrei)Aug7,2001upgradedbySimonBrunningforPython2.1May16,2001upgradedbyRichardGruetandSimonBrunningforPython2.0Jun18,2000upgradedbyRichardGruetforPython1.5.2Oct20,1995createdbyChrisHoffmannforPython1.3Colorcoding:Featuresaddedin2.6since2.5Featuresaddedin2.5since2.4Featuresaddedin2.4since2.3Originallybasedon:
PythonBestiary,author:KenManheimer
Pythonmanuals,authors:GuidovanRossumandFredDrake
python-mode.el,author:TimPeters
andthereadersofcomp.lang.pythonUsefullinks:
Python'snest:
Officialdocumentation:
Otherdoc&freebooks:FAQs,Faqts,DiveintoPython,PythonCookbook,ThinkinginPython,TextprocessinginPython
Gettingstarted:PythonTutorial,7mntoHelloWorld(windows)
Topics:HOWTOs,Databases,Webprogramming,XML,WebServices,Parsers,Numeric&ScientificComputing,GUIContentsFrontmatterPython2.6QuickReferencePage1of41programming,Distributing
Wheretofindpackages:PythonPackageIndex(PyPI),PythonEggs,SourceForge(searchpython),EasyInstall,O'ReillyPythonDevCenter
Wiki:moinmoin
Newsgroups:comp.lang.pythonandcomp.lang.python.announce
Miscpages:DailyPythonURL
PythonDevelopment:
Jython-JavaimplementationofPython:
IronPython-Pythonon.Net:=IronPython
ActivePython:
Helpdesk:[e-mail]
2excellent(butsomehowoutdated)Pythonreferencebooks:PythonEssentialReference(Python2.1)byDavidBeazley&GuidoVanRossum(OtherNewRiders)andPythoninanutshellbyAlexmartelli(O'Reilly).
Python2.4ReferenceCard(cheatsheet)byLaurentPointal,designedforprinting(15pages).
OnlinePython2.2QuickReferencebytheNewMexicoTechComputerCenter.Tip:FromwithinthePythoninterpreter,typehelp,help(object)orhelp(name)togethelp.python[w][-BdEhimOQsStuUvVWxX3?][-ccommand|scriptFile|-][args](pythonwdoesnotopenaterminal/console;pythondoes)
AvailableIDEsinstddistrib:IDLE(tkinterbased,portable),Pythonwin(onWindows).OtherfreeIDEs:IPython(enhancedinteractivePythonshell),Eric,SPE,BOAconstructor,PyDev(Eclipseplugin).
Typicalpythonmoduleheader:#!/usr/bin/envpython#-*-coding:latin1-*-Since2.3theencodingofaPythonsourcefilemustbedeclaredasoneofthetwofirstlines(ordefaultsto7bitsAscii)[PEP-0263],withtheformat:#-*-coding:encoding-*-Stdencodingsaredefinedhere,e.g.ISO-8859-1(akalatin1),iso-8859-15(latin9),UTF-8...Notallencodingssupported,inparticularUTF-16isnotsupported.
It'snowasyntaxerrorifamodulecontainsstringliteralswith8-bitcharactersbutdoesn'thaveanencodingdeclaration(wasawarningbefore).
Since2.5,from__future__importfeaturestatementsmustbedeclaredatbeginningofsourcefile.
Sitecustomization:Filesitecustomize.pyisautomaticallyloadedbyPythonifitexistsinthePythonpath(ideallylocatedin${PYTHONHOME}/lib/site-packages/).InvocationOptionsInvocationOptionsOptionEffect-BPreventsmoduleimportsfromcreating.pycor.pyofiles(seealsoenvtvariablePYTHONDONTWRITEBYTECODE=xandattributesys.dont_write_bytecode).-dOutputparserdebugginginformation(alsoPYTHONDEBUG=x)-EIgnoreenvironmentvariables(suchasPYTHONPATH)-hPrintahelpmessageandexit(formerly-?)-iInspectinteractivelyafterrunningscript(alsoPYTHONINSPECT=x)andforceprompts,evenifstdinappearsnottobeaterminal.-mmoduleSearchformoduleonsys.pathandrunsthemoduleasascript.(Implementationimprovedin2.5:modulerunpy)-OOptimizegeneratedbytecode(alsoPYTHONOPTIMIZE=x).Assertsaresuppressed.-OORemovedoc-stringsinadditiontothe-Ooptimizations.-QargDivisionoptions:-Qold(default),-Qwarn,-Qwarnall,-Qnew-sDisablestheuser-specificmodulepath(alsoPYTHONNOUSERSITE=x)-SDon'tperformimportsiteoninitialization.-tIssuewarningsaboutinconsistenttabusage(-tt:issueerrors).-uUnbufferedbinarystdoutandstderr(alsoPYTHONUNBUFFERED=x).-UForcePythontointerpretallstringliteralsasUnicodeliterals.-vVerbose(traceimportstatements)(alsoPYTHONVERBOSE=x).-VPri