• General Python Introduction

• So what's Python?
• A Python history lesson
• Recent Developments
• What's Python good for?
• What's Python not good for?
• The compulsory features list
• Python in the "Real World"
• On apples and oranges
• Summary: Why Python?

• Using the Interpreter

• How to run Python programs
• Configuration details
• Module files: a first look
• The IDLE interface
• Other Python IDEs
• Time to start coding

• Types and operations

• Numbers
• Strings
• Lists
• Dictionaries
• Tuples
• Files
• General object properties
• Python's type hierarchies

• Basic statements

• Assignment
• Expressions
• Print
• If selections
• Python syntax rules
• Truth tests
• While loops
• Break, continue, pass, and the loop else
• For loops
• "range" and counter loops
• Basic coding gotchas

• Functions

• Function basics
• Scope rules in functions
• More on "global"
• More on "return"
• More on argument passing
• Special argument matching modes
• Odds and ends
• Functions are objects: indirect calls
• Function gotcha

• Modules

• Module basics
• Module files are a namespace
• Name qualification
• Import variants
• Reloading modules
• Odds and ends
• Module design concepts
• Modules are objects: metaprograms
• Module gotchas

• Classes

• Class Basics
• Using the class statement
• Using class methods
• Customization via inheritance
• Specializing inherited methods
• Operator overloading in classes
• OOP: inheritance and composition
• Classes are objects: factories
• Methods are objects: bound or unbound
• Odds and ends
• Class gotchas

• Exceptions

• Exception basics
• First examples
• Exception idioms
• Exception catching modes
• Matching variations
• Exception gotchas

• Built-in tools overview

• The debugger and profiler
• Inspecting name-spaces
• Dynamic coding tools
• Timing Python programs
• Packaging programs for delivery

• System Interfaces

• System modules overview
• Arguments, streams, shell variables
• File tools
• Directory tools
• Forking processes
• Python thread modules
• Fork versus spawnv
• Example: make forward-link files
• Example: regression testing

• GUI programming

• Python GUI Options
• The Tkinter "hello world" program
• Adding buttons, frames, and callbacks
• Building GUIs by subclassing frames
• Reusing GUIs by subclassing and attaching
• Advanced widgets: images, grids, and more
• Sexier examples
• Tkinter odds and ends

• Python object persistence

• Object persistence: shelves
• Storing class instances
• Pickling objects without shelves
• Using simple dbm files
• Shelve gotchas
• Python SQL Database API
• Persistence odds and ends

• Text processing

• String objects: review
• Splitting and joining strings
• Regular expression matching
• Parsing languages

• Internet scripting

• Using sockets in Python
• The FTP module
• Email processing
• Other client-side tools
• Writing server-side CGI scripts
• The Grail web browser
• JPython: Python for Java systems
• Active Scripting and COM
• Other Internet topics: Zope, HTMLgen

• Extending Python in C/C ++

• Integration modes
• C extension modules
• Binding C extensions to Python
• Data conversions
• C extension types
• Wrapping C extensions in Python
• Writing extensions in C++
• Using the SWIG code generator

• Embedding Python in C/C ++

• Running simple code strings
• Calling objects and methods
• Running strings: results & name-spaces
• Registering Python objects and strings
• Running code files from C
• Precompiling strings into byte-code § Embedding under C++
• Automated integration tools

• Packages and resources

• Python portability
• Assorted python packages
• Internet resources
• Python books
• Python in the news
• Python conferences and services
• And finally