capturing the output of external commands

[Avi Kak]

Is there a Python function in any of the
standard-distribution modules that does 
what the backticks do in Perl?

I want to run an external command and I'd
like its output to be captured directly 
in my Python script in the form of a string
object.

The function os.system() or any of the
os.exec functions do not work for what I 
have in mind because they do not capture
and return in Python the output produced
by the commands supplied to them as 
arguments.

Avi Kak
kak at purdue.edu