Learn More Python 3 the Hard Way: The Next Step for New Python Programmers

Part VParsing Text

This part of the book will teach you about text processing and, specifically, the beginning of parsing text formally. I won’t get into all of the different theoretical elements of programming language theory since that is an entire university degree. This is merely the beginning of simple and naïve parsing of text in a way that you can use in many programming situations.

Most programmers have a strange relationship with parsing text. The core of all computer programming is parsing, and it’s one of the most well understood and formalized aspects of computer science. Parsing data is everywhere in computing. You’ll find it in network protocols, compilers, spreadsheets, servers, text editors, graphics renderers, and nearly anything ...