.. _tutorial-index:

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  The Python Tutorial
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:Release: |version|
:Date: |today|

Python is an easy to learn, powerful programming language. It has efficient
high-level data structures and a simple but effective approach to
object-oriented programming. Python's elegant syntax and dynamic typing,
together with its interpreted nature, make it an ideal language for scripting
and rapid application development in many areas on most platforms.

The Python interpreter and the extensive standard library are freely available
in source or binary form for all major platforms from the Python Web site,
http://www.python.org/, and may be freely distributed. The same site also
contains distributions of and pointers to many free third party Python modules,
programs and tools, and additional documentation.

The Python interpreter is easily extended with new functions and data types
implemented in C or C++ (or other languages callable from C). Python is also
suitable as an extension language for customizable applications.

This tutorial introduces the reader informally to the basic concepts and
features of the Python language and system. It helps to have a Python
interpreter handy for hands-on experience, but all examples are self-contained,
so the tutorial can be read off-line as well.

For a description of standard objects and modules, see the Python Library
Reference document. The Python Reference Manual gives a more formal definition
of the language. To write extensions in C or C++, read Extending and Embedding
the Python Interpreter and Python/C API Reference. There are also several books
covering Python in depth.

This tutorial does not attempt to be comprehensive and cover every single
feature, or even every commonly used feature. Instead, it introduces many of
Python's most noteworthy features, and will give you a good idea of the
language's flavor and style. After reading it, you will be able to read and
write Python modules and programs, and you will be ready to learn more about the
various Python library modules described in the Python Library Reference.

The :ref:`glossary` is also worth going through.

.. toctree::
   :numbered:

   appetite.rst
   interpreter.rst
   introduction.rst
   controlflow.rst
   datastructures.rst
   modules.rst
   inputoutput.rst
   errors.rst
   classes.rst
   stdlib.rst
   stdlib2.rst
   whatnow.rst
   interactive.rst
   floatingpoint.rst
