Chapter 1, Objects in Depth, discusses object properties, attributes, creation and how calling objects work.

Chapter 2, Namespaces and Classes, discusses namespaces, how imports work, class multiple inheritance, MRO, Abstract classes, and protocols.

Chapter 3, Functions and Utilities, teaches function definitions, decorators, and some utilities.

Chapter 4, Data Structures and Algorithms, discusses in-built, library, third party data structures and algorithms.

Chapter 5, Elegance with Design Patterns, covers many important design patterns.

Chapter 6, Test-Driven Development, discusses mock objects, parameterization, creating custom test runners, testing threaded applications, and running testcases in parallel.

Chapter 7, Optimization Techniques, covers optimization techniques, profiling, using fast libraries, and compiling C modules.

Chapter 8, Scaling Python, covers multithreading, multiprocessing, asynchronization, and scaling horizontally.

You should have a working installation of Python, preferably greater than 3.4. You can use this with Python 2 as well but the book uses Python 3 and introduces its many new features.

If you are a Python developer and you think that you do not fully understand the language, then this book is for you. This book will unlock mysteries and reintroduce the hidden features of Python to write efficient programs, making optimal use of the language.

In this book, you will find a number of text styles that distinguish between different kinds of information. Here are some examples of these styles and an explanation of their meaning.

Code words in text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file extensions, pathnames, dummy URLs, user input, and Twitter handles are shown as follows: "So, we can change an object's type by changing its __class__ attribute."

A block of code is set as follows:

def __init__(self, name):
        self.name = name
        self._observers = weakref.WeakSet()

    def register_observer(self, observer):
        """attach the observing object for this subject
        """
        self._observers.add(observer)
        print("observer {0} now listening on {1}".format(
            observer.name, self.name))

When we wish to draw your attention to a particular part of a code block, the relevant lines or items are set in bold:

        self.assertFalse(assign_if_free(mworker, {}))
    
    def test_worker_free(self,):
        mworker = create_autospec(IWorker)
        mworker.configure_mock(**{'is_busy.return_value':False})
        self.assertTrue(assign_if_free(mworker, {}))

New terms and important words are shown in bold. Words that you see on the screen, for example, in menus or dialog boxes, appear in the text like this: "Let's take an example of an object iC instance of the C class with the str and lst attributes."

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To send us general feedback, simply e-mail <[email protected]>, and mention the book's title in the subject of your message.

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