Automate the Boring Stuff with Python, 3rd Edition

The bestselling introduction to Python programming, revised to include the latest Python features, improved explanations, and new chapters about databases and sound files.

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 computerSplitting, 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.