Book Image

Mastering Object-Oriented Python - Second Edition

By : Steven F. Lott
Book Image

Mastering Object-Oriented Python - Second Edition

By: Steven F. Lott

Overview of this book

Object-oriented programming (OOP) is a relatively complex discipline to master, and it can be difficult to see how general principles apply to each language's unique features. With the help of the latest edition of Mastering Objected-Oriented Python, you'll be shown how to effectively implement OOP in Python, and even explore Python 3.x. Complete with practical examples, the book guides you through the advanced concepts of OOP in Python, and demonstrates how you can apply them to solve complex problems in OOP. You will learn how to create high-quality Python programs by exploring design alternatives and determining which design offers the best performance. Next, you'll work through special methods for handling simple object conversions and also learn about hashing and comparison of objects. As you cover later chapters, you'll discover how essential it is to locate the best algorithms and optimal data structures for developing robust solutions to programming problems with minimal computer processing. Finally, the book will assist you in leveraging various Python features by implementing object-oriented designs in your programs. By the end of this book, you will have learned a number of alternate approaches with different attributes to confidently solve programming problems in Python.
Table of Contents (25 chapters)
Free Chapter
1
Section 1: Tighter Integration Via Special Methods
11
Section 2: Object Serialization and Persistence
17
Section 3: Object-Oriented Testing and Debugging

The OS interface and the command line

Generally, the operating system's shell starts applications with several pieces of information that constitute the OS API:

  • The shell provides each application with its collection of environment variables. In Python, these are accessed through os.environ.
  • The shell prepares three standard files. In Python, these are mapped to sys.stdin, sys.stdout, and sys.stderr. There are some other modules, such as fileinput, that can provide access to sys.stdin.
  • The command line is parsed by the shell into words. Parts of the command line are available in sys.argv. For POSIX operating systems, the shell may replace shell environment variables and glob wildcard filenames. In Windows, the simple cmd.exe shell will not glob filenames for us.
  • The OS also maintains context settings, such as the current working directory, user identity, and user group information...