3. Python Runtime Services

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:

sys Access system-specific parameters and functions.

gc Interface to the cycle-detecting garbage collector.

weakref Support for weak references and weak dictionaries.

fpectl Provide control for floating point exception handling.

atexit Register and execute cleanup functions.

types Names for built-in types.

UserDict Class wrapper for dictionary objects.

UserList Class wrapper for list objects.

UserString Class wrapper for string objects.

operator All Python's standard operators as built-in functions.

inspect Extract information and source code from live objects.

traceback Print or retrieve a stack traceback.

linecache This module provides random access to individual lines from text files.

pickle Convert Python objects to streams of bytes and back.

cPickle Faster version of pickle, but not subclassable.

copy_reg Register pickle support functions.

shelve Python object persistence.

copy Shallow and deep copy operations.

marshal Convert Python objects to streams of bytes and back (with different constraints).

warnings Issue warning messages and control their disposition.

imp Access the implementation of the import statement.

pkgutil Utilities to support extension of packages.

code Base classes for interactive Python interpreters.

codeop Compile (possibly incomplete) Python code.

pprint Data pretty printer.

repr Alternate repr() implementation with size limits.

new Interface to the creation of runtime implementation objects.

site A standard way to reference site-specific modules.

user A standard way to reference user-specific modules.

__builtin__ The set of built-in functions.

__main__ The environment where the top-level script is run.

__future__ Future statement definitions

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`sys`		Access system-specific parameters and functions.
`gc`		Interface to the cycle-detecting garbage collector.
`weakref`		Support for weak references and weak dictionaries.
`fpectl`		Provide control for floating point exception handling.
`atexit`		Register and execute cleanup functions.
`types`		Names for built-in types.
`UserDict`		Class wrapper for dictionary objects.
`UserList`		Class wrapper for list objects.
`UserString`		Class wrapper for string objects.
`operator`		All Python's standard operators as built-in functions.
`inspect`		Extract information and source code from live objects.
`traceback`		Print or retrieve a stack traceback.
`linecache`		This module provides random access to individual lines from text files.
`pickle`		Convert Python objects to streams of bytes and back.
`cPickle`		Faster version of `pickle`, but not subclassable.
`copy_reg`		Register `pickle` support functions.
`shelve`		Python object persistence.
`copy`		Shallow and deep copy operations.
`marshal`		Convert Python objects to streams of bytes and back (with different constraints).
`warnings`		Issue warning messages and control their disposition.
`imp`		Access the implementation of the `import` statement.
`pkgutil`		Utilities to support extension of packages.
`code`		Base classes for interactive Python interpreters.
`codeop`		Compile (possibly incomplete) Python code.
`pprint`		Data pretty printer.
`repr`		Alternate `repr()` implementation with size limits.
`new`		Interface to the creation of runtime implementation objects.
`site`		A standard way to reference site-specific modules.
`user`		A standard way to reference user-specific modules.
`__builtin__`		The set of built-in functions.
`__main__`		The environment where the top-level script is run.
`__future__`		Future statement definitions