.. _library-index:

###############################
  The Python standard library
###############################

:Release: |version|
:Date: |today|

While :ref:`reference-index` describes the exact syntax and semantics of the
language, it does not describe the standard library that is distributed with the
language, and which greatly enhances its immediate usability. This library
contains built-in modules (written in C) that provide access to system
functionality such as file I/O that would otherwise be inaccessible to Python
programmers, as well as modules written in Python that provide standardized
solutions for many problems that occur in everyday programming. Some of these
modules are explicitly designed to encourage and enhance the portability of
Python programs.

This library reference manual documents Python's standard library, as well as
many optional library modules (which may or may not be available, depending on
whether the underlying platform supports them and on the configuration choices
made at compile time). It also documents the standard types of the language and
its built-in functions and exceptions, many of which are not or incompletely
documented in the Reference Manual.


.. toctree::
   :maxdepth: 2

   intro.rst
   functions.rst
   constants.rst
   objects.rst
   stdtypes.rst
   exceptions.rst

   strings.rst
   datatypes.rst
   numeric.rst
   netdata.rst
   markup.rst
   fileformats.rst
   crypto.rst
   filesys.rst
   archiving.rst
   persistence.rst
   allos.rst
   someos.rst
   unix.rst
   ipc.rst
   internet.rst
   mm.rst
   tkinter.rst
   i18n.rst
   frameworks.rst
   development.rst
   pdb.rst
   profile.rst
   hotshot.rst
   timeit.rst
   trace.rst
   python.rst
   custominterp.rst
   restricted.rst
   modules.rst
   language.rst
   compiler.rst
   misc.rst
   sgi.rst
   sun.rst
   windows.rst
   undoc.rst