Making Use of Python

THE GOOD: I read this book cover-to-cover in a week. It's a small book (300 pages) and a quick read for an experienced programmer. I liked the format of the book as well. It uses a fictitious storyline where you and the author are trying to build a website for "Techsity University". The overall quality of editing was decent, but it could have been a lot better. I found at least 10 editorial mistakes, including a paragraph repeated verbatim right after it was stated. Yet, I found only one mistake where the code was incorrect in the whole book, which is a huge plus, as I hate finding bugs in an author's code when I am learning the language from them. THE BAD: The coverage of method overriding was confusing, despite the fact I knew what the author was saying. I can easily imagine someone who does not know what method overriding is being extremely confused by this section of the book. It's not that the overall book is confusing, because, at times, the author makes stellar points. The problem is that the quality of the writing is not consistent and can vary greatly from topic to topic, and sometimes varies greatly within a single example. For instance, the coverage of CGI programming uses antiquated HTML style and generally looks like HTML written in the 1990s. In addition, the book does not really discuss the "Pythonic Way" to write things. This, I feel, is the greatest shortcoming of the book, since it seems to be targeted toward experienced programmers who are familiar with concepts like polymorphism and inheritance. While form should never come before substance, Python programmers believe there is a canonical way to do any task in Python. This belief is seems so engrained in the Python community that I am surprised the author did not bring it up. There are also some technical errors in places. For instance, when the author is describing the MySQLdb module, she says that close() will close a connection to a database. This is not true. It only closes the cursor. A database connection will be trivially closed when the object is no longer in used. Finally, this book is not for beginners! The book does not contain any exercises, so it is probably not appropriate for someone looking to learn programming. For that, I recommend Python Programming: An Introduction to Computer Science. Overall, the book does not have a suitable audience. Experienced programmers probably will want a book that focus on the "Pythonic Way" presentational angle, while beginners will want exercises to test their comprehension of new concepts. Contents......Page 3 Introduction......Page 8 Features of Python......Page 9 Users and Application Areas of Python......Page 14 Python versus Other Languages......Page 15 How This Book Is Organized......Page 16 What’s on the Web Site......Page 18 Techsity University......Page 19 Fee Structure......Page 20 Future Direction......Page 21 Getting Started......Page 22 Obtain Python and Its Documentation......Page 23 Determine the System Requirements......Page 25 Install Python......Page 26 Start Python in Different Execution Modes......Page 28 Summary......Page 33 Getting Started with Python......Page 34 Writing Your First Python Program......Page 35 Comments......Page 36 Using Variables in Python......Page 37 Variables......Page 38 Assigning Values to Variables......Page 39 Standard Types......Page 40 Identifiers and Keywords......Page 60 Memory Management......Page 61 Write the Code to Display the Names of the Students......Page 63 Save and Execute the Code......Page 64 Summary......Page 65 Intrinsic Operations and Input/Output......Page 68 Using Input/Output Features and Intrinsic Operations for Data Types in Python......Page 69 Accepting User Input......Page 70 Formatting the Output......Page 71 Introduction to Intrinsic Operations......Page 76 Intrinsic Operations for Numeric Data Types......Page 78 Intrinsic Operations for Strings......Page 81 Intrinsic Operations for Lists and Tuples......Page 87 Execute the Code......Page 92 Summary......Page 94 Programming Basics......Page 96 Conditional Operators......Page 97 Order of Precedence of Operators......Page 103 Using Programming Constructs......Page 104 Identify the Control and Loop Statements to Be Used......Page 105 Write the Code......Page 115 Execute the Code......Page 116 Summary......Page 118 Functions......Page 119 Using Functions......Page 120 Functions......Page 121 Scope of Variables......Page 138 Write the Code......Page 139 Execute the Code......Page 141 Summary......Page 142 Modules......Page 143 Modules......Page 144 Packages......Page 155 Identify the Modules to Be Used......Page 156 Write the Code......Page 157 Execute the Code......Page 159 Summary......Page 160 Files......Page 161 Identify the Functions and Methods to Be Used......Page 162 Write the Code to Store Course Details to a File......Page 174 Verify the Solution......Page 175 Summary......Page 176 Object-Oriented Programming......Page 177 Introducing OOP......Page 178 Components of OOP......Page 179 Benefits of OOP......Page 180 Using Classes......Page 181 Identify the Classes to Be Defined......Page 182 Identifying the Class Objects......Page 183 Identifying the Classes to Be Inherited and Their Objects......Page 190 Identify the Methods to Be Overridden......Page 193 Write the Code......Page 202 Execute the Code......Page 209 Summary......Page 210 Getting Started......Page 212 Handling Exceptions......Page 213 Identify the Type of Error and Where the Error Occurs......Page 215 Identify the Mechanism of Trapping the Exception......Page 219 Write the Code for Handling the Exception......Page 228 Summary......Page 229 Getting Started......Page 231 Internet Basics......Page 232 Web Browsers......Page 235 Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)......Page 238 Revising HTML......Page 239 Client-Side versus Server-Side Scripting......Page 245 An Introduction to CGI......Page 247 Write the CGI Program in Python to Generate the Results Page......Page 249 Write the CGI Program to Generate Both the Form and Results Pages......Page 253 Execute the Code......Page 254 Summary......Page 256 Getting Started......Page 258 Database Management......Page 259 Introduction to MySQL......Page 260 Working with MySQL......Page 263 Accessing a Database from a Python Script......Page 271 Identify the Steps for Connecting to the Database......Page 273 Write the Code to Create a Table in the Database......Page 276 into the Table Created......Page 277 Execute the Code to Insert Data into the Table......Page 278 Verify the Data in the Database......Page 280 Summary......Page 281 Getting Started......Page 283 Client/Server Architecture......Page 284 Network Programming......Page 285 Identify the Sockets to Be Used......Page 288 Write the Code to Run on the IT Department Computer......Page 303 Write the Code to Run on the Admission Office Computer......Page 304 Execute the Code Created for the IT Department Computer......Page 305 Execute the Code Created for the Admission Office Computer......Page 306 Summary......Page 308 Getting Started......Page 312 Single-Threaded Applications......Page 313 Threading in Python......Page 314 Identify the Class and the Methods to Create a Multithreaded Application......Page 315 Write Code for the Server......Page 323 Write the Code for the Client......Page 324 Execute the Code Created for the Server......Page 325 Execute the Code Created for the Client......Page 326 Summary......Page 328 Advanced Web Programming......Page 330 Creating Web Servers......Page 331 Accessing URLs......Page 338 Assignment Details and Uploading the File......Page 343 Identify the Methodology for Uploading the File......Page 344 Identify the Methodology for Storing User Information......Page 345 Write the Code for the CGI Script......Page 350 Execute the CGI Script......Page 354 Summary......Page 355 Getting Started......Page 357 Introduction to Tkinter......Page 358 Creating a GUI Application......Page 361 Identify the Tkinter Widgets to Design the User Interface......Page 362 Write the Code for the User Interface......Page 374 Execute the Code......Page 376 Summary......Page 378 Basics of COM......Page 379 The Binary Standard......Page 381 COM Interfaces......Page 383 Binding......Page 384 Creating COM Clients......Page 385 Creating COM Servers......Page 387 Index......Page 391

a Step-by-step Guide On How To Use Python For Cgi Scripting, Gui Development, Network Programming, And Much More!

organizations Such As Nasa, Hewlett-packard, And Xerox Have Already Discovered The Power That Python Has To Offer. This Multipurpose Development Language Can Be Used On Virtually Every Platform, From Windows And Linux To Os/2 And Amiga. With Its Unique Task-oriented Approach, This Book Explores The Language Basics And Then Describes How To Quickly Begin Using It For Development Work. Rashi Gupta First Explains Why Python Is Arguably The Most Sophisticated Of The Popular Scripting Languages And Why Its Popularity Continues To Grow. She Uncovers All Of Python's Unique Features, Detailing Its Built-in Support For Critical Development Steps, Including Data Structures, Dynamic Typing, And Dynamic Building. Gupta Then Discusses How To Use Python In Lieu Of Java Or C++ When Developing Cross-platform Applications. All In All, She'll Help You Gain The Skills Necessary To Begin Programming In Python.

with Numerous Real-world Examples And Expert Advice,this Book:

* Provides A Concise And Task-oriented Introduction To Python

* Helps You Evaluate The Suitability Of Python For Your Project

* Is A Practical Introduction To Python's Syntax And Fundamental Strengths

* Includes Numerous Working Scripts, With Information On How To Adapt And Extend Them To Meet Individual Needs

the Companion Web Site Contains:

* All Source Code From The Book

* Frequently Asked Questions, Quizzes, And Best Practices

* Links To Other Resource Sites

wiley Computer Publishing

timely. Practical. Reliable.

visit Our Web Site At Www.wiley.com/compbooks/

visit The Companion Web Site At Www.wiley.com/compbooks/makinguse

Python is a multipurpose development language that can be used on virtually every platform. It offers built-in support for critical development steps including data structures, dynamic typing, and dynamic building. It can be used in lieu of Java or C++, and Python scripts can be developed in a fraction of the time it takes to program and debug higher-level languages. Covers language basics and how to use Python for CGI scripting, GUI development, network programming, and much more Demonstrates why Python is arguably the most sophisticated of the popular scripting languages and why its popularity continues to grow An Introduction to Python Getting Started with Python Intrinsic Operations and Input/ Output Programming Basics Functions Modules Files Object-Oriented Programming Exception Handling CGI Programming Database Programming Network Programming Multithreaded Programming Advanced Web Programming GUI Programming with Tkinter Appendix A: Distributing COM Objects. The Introduction familiarized you with Python.