explainations about standard library and modules in Python.

[Brian van den Broek]

Hung ho said unto the world upon 2004-09-02 14:44:
> Hi. I just finished reading an introductory Python book called "Python
> Programming for the absolute beginner" by Michael Dawson. I found it
> very interesting, and easy to follow. Python does really look similar
> to C/C++ and Java. In the book, the author imported other modules that
> were from the standard library of Python. I tried reading some of the
> modules in the standard library in Python's Lib folder. I'm just a
> beginner to Python, and didn't understand anything in any of the
> modules. My question is that, can anyone recommend me any book, or
> online materials that could explain what the functions some of the
> modules in the standard library can do that are packaged along with
> Python v. 2.3.4?. For example, I read some modules such as os.py,
> sys.py, and random.py The documents in those modules didn't help me to
> comprehend what the purpose of the modules, and how to use them in
> Python. What are their functions, and how do I use them. Thank You.

Hi,

I am a relative newcomer to Python and programming both.

You've already been pointed to Python in a Nutshell. I'll add my voice to 
that.

I'd also suggest The Python Standard library by Lundh. There is an 
O'Reilly dead-tree <http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/pythonsl/> and a free 
version at <http://effbot.org/zone/librarybook-index.htm>. It is a bit out 
of date (IIRC it is geared to Python 2.0), but it has been helpful to me 
nevertheless.

Between the docs, the Nutshell book and the Lundh, the helpful people on 
the tutor list have been spared many posts from me ;-)

Best,

Brian vdB