Beginning Python: Using Python 2.6 and Python 3.1

Beginning Python: Using Python 2.6 and Python 3.1 is the simplified Chinese translation of the Wrox book Beginning Python: Using Python 2.6 and Python 3.1, translated by Zhang Chunhui and published by Tsinghua University Press in 2011 (1st edition, 533 pages, about 846,000 characters). Author James Payne is editor-in-chief of the Developer Shed network of websites and has long used Python to develop software for the financial industry. The book has four parts. Part I, "Getting Started with Python," begins with strings, numbers and operators, and variables, then covers the Python Shell and built-in types such as tuples, lists, and dictionaries. Part II, "Python Language and the Standard Library," explains conditionals, loops, functions, classes and objects, organizing modules and packages, file and directory operations, and often-overlooked language features such as lambda, map, list comprehensions, and regular expressions. Part III, "Putting Python to Work," applies the language to concrete domains: unit testing and test suites, GUI programming with Tkinter, data access with DBM and relational databases, XML parsing with SAX/DOM/lxml, sockets and network protocols, extending Python with C, numerical programming, an introduction to Django, web applications and web services, and integrating Jython with Java. Part IV consists of appendices with general reference material. A distinctive feature of the book is that it teaches Python 2.6 and Python 3.1 side by side and, wherever possible, uses syntax that runs in both versions, helping readers understand the migration differences from Python 2 to Python 3. Each chapter includes a summary and exercises. Note that the book's content is based on versions 2.x/3.1; some idioms and modules (such as Python 2's print statement habits and Jython integration) now differ from Python 3.10 and later, so readers should check the official documentation for comparison.