# Python/C API Reference Manual

Guido van Rossum

Corporation for National Research Initiatives (CNRI)
1895 Preston White Drive, Reston, Va 20191, USA
E-mail: guido@CNRI.Reston.Va.US, guido@python.org

April 13, 1999
Release 1.5.2

- Front Matter
- Contents
- 1. Introduction
  - 1.1 Include Files
  - 1.2 Objects, Types and Reference Counts
  - 1.3 Exceptions
  - 1.4 Embedding Python
- 2. The Very High Level Layer
- 3. Reference Counting
- 4. Exception Handling
  - 4.1 Standard Exceptions
- 5. Utilities
  - 5.1 OS Utilities
  - 5.2 Process Control
  - 5.3 Importing Modules
- 6. Abstract Objects Layer
  - 6.1 Object Protocol
  - 6.2 Number Protocol
  - 6.3 Sequence Protocol
  - 6.4 Mapping Protocol
  - 6.5 Constructors
- 7. Concrete Objects Layer
  - 7.1 Fundamental Objects
  - 7.2 Sequence Objects
  - 7.3 Mapping Objects
  - 7.4 Numeric Objects
  - 7.5 Other Objects
- 8. Initialization, Finalization, and Threads
  - 8.1 Thread State and the Global Interpreter Lock
- 9. Defining New Object Types
- 10. Debugging
- Index
- About this document ...