executing shell commands

[chris lamb]

I am very new to Python and having to learn quickly! I am enjoying it,
however. It is a flexible and intuitive environment.

Can someone advise me if there is an equivalent to running a system process
from inside a script as there is in Perl? I mean in perl if I use backticks
to enclose a system command, then the command is executed. Is there a
comparable way of running these commands from Python?

I want to build dynamic javadoc commands and module names and run the
commands inside the script.

best wishes

chris