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Added safeguard against failure in __del__.
author Guido van Rossum <guido@python.org>
date Wed, 27 Nov 1996 19:39:58 +0000
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1 \chapter{Introduction}
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2
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3 The ``Python library'' contains several different kinds of components.
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4
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5 It contains data types that would normally be considered part of the
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6 ``core'' of a language, such as numbers and lists. For these types,
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7 the Python language core defines the form of literals and places some
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8 constraints on their semantics, but does not fully define the
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9 semantics. (On the other hand, the language core does define
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10 syntactic properties like the spelling and priorities of operators.)
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11
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12 The library also contains built-in functions and exceptions ---
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13 objects that can be used by all Python code without the need of an
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14 \code{import} statement. Some of these are defined by the core
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15 language, but many are not essential for the core semantics and are
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16 only described here.
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17
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18 The bulk of the library, however, consists of a collection of modules.
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19 There are many ways to dissect this collection. Some modules are
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20 written in C and built in to the Python interpreter; others are
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21 written in Python and imported in source form. Some modules provide
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22 interfaces that are highly specific to Python, like printing a stack
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23 trace; some provide interfaces that are specific to particular
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24 operating systems, like socket I/O; others provide interfaces that are
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25 specific to a particular application domain, like the World-Wide Web.
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26 Some modules are avaiable in all versions and ports of Python; others
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27 are only available when the underlying system supports or requires
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28 them; yet others are available only when a particular configuration
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29 option was chosen at the time when Python was compiled and installed.
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30
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31 This manual is organized ``from the inside out'': it first describes
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32 the built-in data types, then the built-in functions and exceptions,
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33 and finally the modules, grouped in chapters of related modules. The
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34 ordering of the chapters as well as the ordering of the modules within
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35 each chapter is roughly from most relevant to least important.
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36
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37 This means that if you start reading this manual from the start, and
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38 skip to the next chapter when you get bored, you will get a reasonable
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39 overview of the available modules and application areas that are
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40 supported by the Python library. Of course, you don't \emph{have} to
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41 read it like a novel --- you can also browse the table of contents (in
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42 front of the manual), or look for a specific function, module or term
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43 in the index (in the back). And finally, if you enjoy learning about
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44 random subjects, you choose a random page number (see module
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45 \code{rand}) and read a section or two.
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46
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47 Let the show begin!