Python newbie - help needed in choosing modules/libraries

Question

i am learning python.. i want to do certain kind of scripting in python.. like, i want to communicate 'wmic' commands through dos promt.. store the result a file.. access some sqlite database, take the data it has and compare with the result i stored.. now, what i dont get is that, how should i proceed? is there any specific frameworks or modules/libraries? like, win32api / com or what else? pls guide me what things i should follow/learn to accomplish what i intend to do.. thanks

Answer 1

One of the particularly attractive features of Python is the "batteries included" philosophy: The standard library is huge, and extremely well thought out in 90% of the modules I've ever used. Conversely, this means that a good approach is to learn it first before branching out and installing third-party libraries that may be much less well supported and, ultimately, have no advantage.

In practice, this means I'd recommend keeping http://docs.python.org/release/2.6.5/library/index.html close to your heart, and delve into the documentation for the sqlite3 and probably the subprocess modules. You may or may not want win32api later (I've never worked with wmic, so I'm not sure what you'd need), or come back here when you have concrete questions and already explored the standard library offering.

Answer 2

for your project look here
http://tgolden.sc.sabren.com/python/wmi/index.html
http://docs.python.org/library/sqlite3.html

here is list of generic python modules
http://docs.python.org/modindex.html

http://docs.python.org/ - here you can find all information you need with examples.