1.. _library-index: 2 3############################### 4 The Python Standard Library 5############################### 6 7While :ref:`reference-index` describes the exact syntax and 8semantics of the Python language, this library reference manual 9describes the standard library that is distributed with Python. It also 10describes some of the optional components that are commonly included 11in Python distributions. 12 13Python's standard library is very extensive, offering a wide range of 14facilities as indicated by the long table of contents listed below. The 15library contains built-in modules (written in C) that provide access to 16system functionality such as file I/O that would otherwise be 17inaccessible to Python programmers, as well as modules written in Python 18that provide standardized solutions for many problems that occur in 19everyday programming. Some of these modules are explicitly designed to 20encourage and enhance the portability of Python programs by abstracting 21away platform-specifics into platform-neutral APIs. 22 23The Python installers for the Windows platform usually include 24the entire standard library and often also include many additional 25components. For Unix-like operating systems Python is normally provided 26as a collection of packages, so it may be necessary to use the packaging 27tools provided with the operating system to obtain some or all of the 28optional components. 29 30In addition to the standard library, there is a growing collection of 31several thousand components (from individual programs and modules to 32packages and entire application development frameworks), available from 33the `Python Package Index <https://pypi.python.org/pypi>`_. 34 35 36.. toctree:: 37 :maxdepth: 2 38 :numbered: 39 40 intro.rst 41 functions.rst 42 constants.rst 43 stdtypes.rst 44 exceptions.rst 45 46 strings.rst 47 datatypes.rst 48 numeric.rst 49 filesys.rst 50 persistence.rst 51 archiving.rst 52 fileformats.rst 53 crypto.rst 54 allos.rst 55 someos.rst 56 ipc.rst 57 netdata.rst 58 markup.rst 59 internet.rst 60 mm.rst 61 i18n.rst 62 frameworks.rst 63 tk.rst 64 development.rst 65 debug.rst 66 distribution.rst 67 python.rst 68 custominterp.rst 69 restricted.rst 70 modules.rst 71 language.rst 72 compiler.rst 73 misc.rst 74 windows.rst 75 unix.rst 76 mac.rst 77 macosa.rst 78 sgi.rst 79 sun.rst 80 undoc.rst 81