Automate the Boring Stuff with Python

"If you've ever spent hours renaming files or updating hundreds of spreadsheet cells, you know how tedious tasks like these can be. But what if you could have your computer do this work for you? In this fully revised third edition of Automate the Boring Stuff with Python, you'll learn how to use Python to write programs that do in minutes what would take you hours to do by hand--no prior programming experience required. Early chapters will teach you the fundamentals of Python through clear explanations and engaging examples. You'll write your first Python program; work with strings, lists, dictionaries, and other data structures; then use regular expressions to find and manipulate text patterns. Once you've mastered the basics, you'll tackle projects that teach you to use Python to automate tasks like: Searching the web, downloading content, and filling out forms Finding, extracting, and manipulating text and data in files and spreadsheets Copying, moving, renaming, or compressing saved files on your computer Splitting, merging, and extracting text from PDFs and Word documents Interacting with applications through custom mouse and keyboard macros Managing your inbox, unsubscribing from lists, and sending email or text notifications New to this edition: All code and examples have been thoroughly updated. You'll also find four new chapters on database integration, speech recognition, and audio and video editing, as well as 16 new programming projects and expanded coverage of developer techniques like creating command line programs. Don't spend your time on work a well-trained monkey could do. Even if you've never written a line of code, you can pass off that grunt work to your computer. Learn how in Automate the Boring Stuff with Python"--

Foreword
Acknowledgments
Introduction

Part I: Programming Fundamentals
Chapter 1: Python Basics
Chapter 2: if-else and Flow Control
Chapter 3: Loops
Chapter 4: Functions
Chapter 5: Debugging
Chapter 6: Lists
Chapter 7: Dictionaries and Structuring Data
Chapter 8: Strings and Text Editing

Part II: Automating Tasks
Chapter 9: Text Pattern Matching with Regular Expressions
Chapter 10: Reading and Writing Files
Chapter 11: Organizing Files
Chapter 12: Designing and Deploying Command Line Programs
Chapter 13: Web Scraping
Chapter 14: Excel Spreadsheets
Chapter 15: Google Sheets
Chapter 16: SQLite Databases
Chapter 17: PDF and Word Documents
Chapter 18: CSV, JSON, and XML Files
Chapter 19: Keeping Time, Scheduling Tasks, and Launching Programs
Chapter 20: Sending Email, Texts, and Push Notifications
Chapter 21: Making Graphs and Manipulating Images
Chapter 22: Recognizing Text in Images
Chapter 23: Controlling the Keyboard and Mouse
Chapter 24: Text-to-Speech and Speech Recognition Engines

Appendix A: Installing Third-Party Packages
Appendix B: Answers to the Practice Questions

Index