Python Programming On Win32: Help for Windows Programmers

In lieu of a general language tour, this book centers on practical tips and examples for using Python on Windows, beginning with downloading and installing the free Python package. The most useful examples here present a Python library for general accounting objects. You'll learn how to write COM servers in Python and then how to script them in Visual Basic (used here to build user interfaces) and how to control Word and Excel with OLE Automation in Python. One standout example looks at building and printing accounting reports in Office 2000 using Python as the script language.

Later sections look at other possibilities, including how to use Python's support for MFC to build user interfaces. A notable section here looks at Windows NT system administration in Python. Because of its built-in support for dictionaries, Python is a natural fit for working with users, groups, permissions, and the like.

While Python's initial habitat may be Unix, Python Programming on Win32 shows that this powerful and increasingly popular object-oriented language may find its next home on Windows. Provided you have some previous exposure to the language, this book is an excellent resource for using Python in a Windows setting. --Richard Dragan

Topics covered: Python programming quick-start, Windows Python basics, Python support for COM/DCOM, the Pythonwin editor, Office 2000 scripting, Windows NT administration and system programming, Python MFC programming, and Active Scripting.

Product Description
Python is growing in popularity; based on download statistics, there are now over 450,000 people using Python, and more than 150,000 people using Python on Windows. Use of the language has been growing at about 40 percent per year since 1995, and there is every reason to believe that growth will continue. Despite Python's increasing popularity on Windows, Python Programming on Win32 is the first book to demonstrate how to use it as a serious Windows development and administration tool. Unlike scripting on UNIX, Windows scripting involves integrating a number of components, such as COM or the various mail and database APIs, with the Win32 programming interface. While experienced Windows C++ programmers can find their way through the various objects, most people need some guidance, and this book is it. It addresses all the basic technologies for common integration tasks on Windows, explaining both the Windows issues and the Python code you need to glue things together.