PYTHON(1)PYTHON(1)NAMEpython - an interpreted, interactive, object-oriented programming lan‐
guage
SYNOPSISpython [ -d ] [ -i ] [ -O ] [ -S ] [ -t ] [ -u ] [ -v ] [ -x ] [ -h ] [
-V ]
[ -c command | script | - ] [ arguments ]
DESCRIPTION
Python is an interpreted, interactive, object-oriented programming lan‐
guage that combines remarkable power with very clear syntax. For an
introduction to programming in Python you are referred to the Python
Tutorial. The Python Library Reference documents built-in and standard
types, constants, functions and modules. Finally, the Python Reference
Manual describes the syntax and semantics of the core language in (per‐
haps too) much detail. (These documents may be located via the INTER‐
NET RESOURCES below; they may be installed on your system as well.)
Python's basic power can be extended with your own modules written in C
or C++. On most systems such modules may be dynamically loaded.
Python is also adaptable as an extension language for existing applica‐
tions. See the internal documentation for hints.
COMMAND LINE OPTIONS-d Turn on parser debugging output (for wizards only, depending on
compilation options).
-i When a script is passed as first argument or the -c option is
used, enter interactive mode after executing the script or the
command. It does not read the $PYTHONSTARTUP file. This can be
useful to inspect global variables or a stack trace when a
script raises an exception.
-O Turn on basic optimizations. This changes the filename exten‐
sion for compiled (bytecode) files from .pyc to .pyo. Given
twice, causes docstrings to be discarded.
-S Disable the import of the module site and the site-dependent
manipulations of sys.path that it entails.
-t Issue a warning when a source file mixes tabs and spaces for
indentation in a way that makes it depend on the worth of a tab
expressed in spaces. Issue an error when the option is given
twice.
-u Force stdin, stdout and stderr to be totally unbuffered.
-v Print a message each time a module is initialized, showing the
place (filename or built-in module) from which it is loaded.
When given twice, print a message for each file that is checked
for when searching for a module. Also provides information on
module cleanup at exit.
-x Skip the first line of the source. This is intended for a DOS
specific hack only. Warning: the line numbers in error messages
will be off by one!
-h Prints the usage for the interpreter executable and exits.
-V Prints the Python version number of the executable and exits.
-c command
Specify the command to execute (see next section). This termi‐
nates the option list (following options are passed as arguments
to the command).
INTERPRETER INTERFACE
The interpreter interface resembles that of the UNIX shell: when called
with standard input connected to a tty device, it prompts for commands
and executes them until an EOF is read; when called with a file name
argument or with a file as standard input, it reads and executes a
script from that file; when called with -c command, it executes the
Python statement(s) given as command. Here command may contain multi‐
ple statements separated by newlines. Leading whitespace is signifi‐
cant in Python statements! In non-interactive mode, the entire input
is parsed befored it is executed.
If available, the script name and additional arguments thereafter are
passed to the script in the Python variable sys.argv , which is a list
of strings (you must first import sys to be able to access it). If no
script name is given, sys.argv[0] is an empty string; if -c is used,
sys.argv[0] contains the string '-c'. Note that options interpreted by
the Python interpreter itself are not placed in sys.argv.
In interactive mode, the primary prompt is `>>>'; the second prompt
(which appears when a command is not complete) is `...'. The prompts
can be changed by assignment to sys.ps1 or sys.ps2. The interpreter
quits when it reads an EOF at a prompt. When an unhandled exception
occurs, a stack trace is printed and control returns to the primary
prompt; in non-interactive mode, the interpreter exits after printing
the stack trace. The interrupt signal raises the KeyboardInterrupt
exception; other UNIX signals are not caught (except that SIGPIPE is
sometimes ignored, in favor of the IOError exception). Error messages
are written to stderr.
FILES AND DIRECTORIES
These are subject to difference depending on local installation conven‐
tions; ${prefix} and ${exec_prefix} are installation-dependent and
should be interpreted as for GNU software; they may be the same. The
default for both is /usr/local.
${exec_prefix}/bin/python
Recommended location of the interpreter.
${prefix}/lib/python<version>
${exec_prefix}/lib/python<version>
Recommended locations of the directories containing the standard
modules.
${prefix}/include/python<version>
${exec_prefix}/include/python<version>
Recommended locations of the directories containing the include
files needed for developing Python extensions and embedding the
interpreter.
~/.pythonrc.py
User-specific initialization file loaded by the user module; not
used by default or by most applications.
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
PYTHONHOME
Change the location of the standard Python libraries. By
default, the libraries are searched in ${prefix}/lib/python<ver‐
sion> and ${exec_prefix}/lib/python<version>, where ${prefix}
and ${exec_prefix} are installation-dependent directories, both
defaulting to /usr/local. When $PYTHONHOME is set to a single
directory, its value replaces both ${prefix} and ${exec_prefix}.
To specify different values for these, set $PYTHONHOME to ${pre‐
fix}:${exec_prefix}.
PYTHONPATH
Augments the default search path for module files. The format
is the same as the shell's $PATH: one or more directory path‐
names separated by colons. Non-existant directories are
silently ignored. The default search path is installation
dependent, but generally begins with ${prefix}/lib/python<ver‐
sion> (see PYTHONHOME above). The default search path is always
appended to $PYTHONPATH. If a script argument is given, the
directory containing the script is inserted in the path in front
of $PYTHONPATH. The search path can be manipulated from within
a Python program as the variable sys.path .
PYTHONSTARTUP
If this is the name of a readable file, the Python commands in
that file are executed before the first prompt is displayed in
interactive mode. The file is executed in the same name space
where interactive commands are executed so that objects defined
or imported in it can be used without qualification in the
interactive session. You can also change the prompts sys.ps1
and sys.ps2 in this file.
PYTHONDEBUG
If this is set to a non-empty string it is equivalent to speci‐
fying the -d option.
PYTHONINSPECT
If this is set to a non-empty string it is equivalent to speci‐
fying the -i option.
PYTHONUNBUFFERED
If this is set to a non-empty string it is equivalent to speci‐
fying the -u option.
PYTHONVERBOSE
If this is set to a non-empty string it is equivalent to speci‐
fying the -v option.
AUTHOR
Guido van Rossum
BeOpen.com
160 Saratoga Avenue
Santa Clara, CA 95051
USA
E-mail: guido@beopen.com, guido@python.org
And a cast of thousands.
INTERNET RESOURCES
Main website: http://www.python.org
BeOpen development team: http://pythonlabs.com
Community website: http://starship.python.net
Developer resources:
http://sourceforge.net/project/?group_id=5470
FTP: ftp://ftp.python.org/pub/python
Module repository: http://www.vex.net/parnassus/
Newsgroups: comp.lang.python, comp.lang.python.announce
LICENSING
Python is distributed under an Open Source license. See the file
"LICENSE" in the Python source distribution for information on terms &
conditions for accessing and otherwise using Python and for a DIS‐
CLAIMER OF ALL WARRANTIES.
5 September, 2000 PYTHON(1)
