This is the book to reach for when you're coding on the fly and need an answer now. It's an easy-to-use reference to the core language, with descriptions of commonly used modules and toolkits, and a guide to recent changes, new features, and upgraded built-ins -- all updated to cover Python 3.x as well as version 2.6. You'll also quickly find exactly what you need with the handy index.

Written by Mark Lutz, who is widely recognized as today's leading Python trainer, Python Pocket Reference, Fourth Edition, is the perfect companion to O'Reilly's classic Python tutorials, Learning Python and Programming Python.

This edition covers:

* Built-in object types, including numbers, lists, dictionaries, and more
* Statements and syntax for creating and processing objects
* Functions and modules for structuring and reusing code
* Python's object-oriented programming tools
* The exception-handling model
* Built-in functions, exceptions, and attributes
* Special operator overloading methods
* Widely used standard library modules and extensions
* Command-line options and development tools
* Python idioms and hints