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<title>3. Python Runtime Services </title>
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<H1><A NAME="SECTION005000000000000000000"><!--x--></A><A NAME="python"><!--z--></A>
<BR>
3. Python Runtime Services
</H1>
<P>
The modules described in this chapter provide a wide range of services
related to the Python interpreter and its interaction with its
environment. Here's an overview:
<P>
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<td><b><tt class='module'><a href='module-sys.html'>sys</a></tt></b></td>
<td> </td>
<td class='synopsis'>Access system-specific parameters and functions.</td></tr>
<tr><td><b><tt class='module'><a href='module-gc.html'>gc</a></tt></b></td>
<td> </td>
<td class='synopsis'>Interface to the cycle-detecting garbage collector.</td></tr>
<tr class='oddrow'>
<td><b><tt class='module'><a href='module-weakref.html'>weakref</a></tt></b></td>
<td> </td>
<td class='synopsis'>Support for weak references and weak dictionaries.</td></tr>
<tr><td><b><tt class='module'><a href='module-fpectl.html'>fpectl</a></tt></b></td>
<td> </td>
<td class='synopsis'>Provide control for floating point exception handling.</td></tr>
<tr class='oddrow'>
<td><b><tt class='module'><a href='module-atexit.html'>atexit</a></tt></b></td>
<td> </td>
<td class='synopsis'>Register and execute cleanup functions.</td></tr>
<tr><td><b><tt class='module'><a href='module-types.html'>types</a></tt></b></td>
<td> </td>
<td class='synopsis'>Names for built-in types.</td></tr>
<tr class='oddrow'>
<td><b><tt class='module'><a href='module-UserDict.html'>UserDict</a></tt></b></td>
<td> </td>
<td class='synopsis'>Class wrapper for dictionary objects.</td></tr>
<tr><td><b><tt class='module'><a href='module-UserList.html'>UserList</a></tt></b></td>
<td> </td>
<td class='synopsis'>Class wrapper for list objects.</td></tr>
<tr class='oddrow'>
<td><b><tt class='module'><a href='module-UserString.html'>UserString</a></tt></b></td>
<td> </td>
<td class='synopsis'>Class wrapper for string objects.</td></tr>
<tr><td><b><tt class='module'><a href='module-operator.html'>operator</a></tt></b></td>
<td> </td>
<td class='synopsis'>All Python's standard operators as built-in functions.</td></tr>
<tr class='oddrow'>
<td><b><tt class='module'><a href='module-inspect.html'>inspect</a></tt></b></td>
<td> </td>
<td class='synopsis'>Extract information and source code from live objects.</td></tr>
<tr><td><b><tt class='module'><a href='module-traceback.html'>traceback</a></tt></b></td>
<td> </td>
<td class='synopsis'>Print or retrieve a stack traceback.</td></tr>
<tr class='oddrow'>
<td><b><tt class='module'><a href='module-linecache.html'>linecache</a></tt></b></td>
<td> </td>
<td class='synopsis'>This module provides random access to individual lines
from text files.</td></tr>
<tr><td><b><tt class='module'><a href='module-pickle.html'>pickle</a></tt></b></td>
<td> </td>
<td class='synopsis'>Convert Python objects to streams of bytes and back.</td></tr>
<tr class='oddrow'>
<td><b><tt class='module'><a href='module-cPickle.html'>cPickle</a></tt></b></td>
<td> </td>
<td class='synopsis'>Faster version of <tt class="module"><a href="module-pickle.html">pickle</a></tt>, but not subclassable.</td></tr>
<tr><td><b><tt class='module'><a href='module-copyreg.html'>copy_reg</a></tt></b></td>
<td> </td>
<td class='synopsis'>Register <tt class="module">pickle</tt> support functions.</td></tr>
<tr class='oddrow'>
<td><b><tt class='module'><a href='module-shelve.html'>shelve</a></tt></b></td>
<td> </td>
<td class='synopsis'>Python object persistence.</td></tr>
<tr><td><b><tt class='module'><a href='module-copy.html'>copy</a></tt></b></td>
<td> </td>
<td class='synopsis'>Shallow and deep copy operations.</td></tr>
<tr class='oddrow'>
<td><b><tt class='module'><a href='module-marshal.html'>marshal</a></tt></b></td>
<td> </td>
<td class='synopsis'>Convert Python objects to streams of bytes and back
(with different constraints).</td></tr>
<tr><td><b><tt class='module'><a href='module-warnings.html'>warnings</a></tt></b></td>
<td> </td>
<td class='synopsis'>Issue warning messages and control their disposition.</td></tr>
<tr class='oddrow'>
<td><b><tt class='module'><a href='module-imp.html'>imp</a></tt></b></td>
<td> </td>
<td class='synopsis'>Access the implementation of the <tt class="keyword">import</tt> statement.</td></tr>
<tr><td><b><tt class='module'><a href='module-pkgutil.html'>pkgutil</a></tt></b></td>
<td> </td>
<td class='synopsis'>Utilities to support extension of packages.</td></tr>
<tr class='oddrow'>
<td><b><tt class='module'><a href='module-code.html'>code</a></tt></b></td>
<td> </td>
<td class='synopsis'>Base classes for interactive Python interpreters.</td></tr>
<tr><td><b><tt class='module'><a href='module-codeop.html'>codeop</a></tt></b></td>
<td> </td>
<td class='synopsis'>Compile (possibly incomplete) Python code.</td></tr>
<tr class='oddrow'>
<td><b><tt class='module'><a href='module-pprint.html'>pprint</a></tt></b></td>
<td> </td>
<td class='synopsis'>Data pretty printer.</td></tr>
<tr><td><b><tt class='module'><a href='module-repr.html'>repr</a></tt></b></td>
<td> </td>
<td class='synopsis'>Alternate <tt class="function">repr()</tt> implementation with size limits.</td></tr>
<tr class='oddrow'>
<td><b><tt class='module'><a href='module-new.html'>new</a></tt></b></td>
<td> </td>
<td class='synopsis'>Interface to the creation of runtime implementation objects.</td></tr>
<tr><td><b><tt class='module'><a href='module-site.html'>site</a></tt></b></td>
<td> </td>
<td class='synopsis'>A standard way to reference site-specific modules.</td></tr>
<tr class='oddrow'>
<td><b><tt class='module'><a href='module-user.html'>user</a></tt></b></td>
<td> </td>
<td class='synopsis'>A standard way to reference user-specific modules.</td></tr>
<tr><td><b><tt class='module'><a href='module-builtin.html'>__builtin__</a></tt></b></td>
<td> </td>
<td class='synopsis'>The set of built-in functions.</td></tr>
<tr class='oddrow'>
<td><b><tt class='module'><a href='module-main.html'>__main__</a></tt></b></td>
<td> </td>
<td class='synopsis'>The environment where the top-level script is run.</td></tr>
<tr><td><b><tt class='module'><a href='module-future.html'>__future__</a></tt></b></td>
<td> </td>
<td class='synopsis'>Future statement definitions</td></tr>
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<span class="release-info">Release 2.3.4, documentation updated on May 20, 2004.</span>
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