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+\section{Built-in Functions \label{built-in-funcs}}
+
+The Python interpreter has a number of functions built into it that
+are always available.  They are listed here in alphabetical order.
+
+
+\setindexsubitem{(built-in function)}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{__import__}{name\optional{, globals\optional{, locals\optional{, fromlist\optional{, level}}}}}
+  This function is invoked by the \keyword{import}\stindex{import}
+  statement.  It mainly exists so that you can replace it with another
+  function that has a compatible interface, in order to change the
+  semantics of the \keyword{import} statement.  For examples of why
+  and how you would do this, see the standard library modules
+  \module{ihooks}\refstmodindex{ihooks} and
+  \refmodule{rexec}\refstmodindex{rexec}.  See also the built-in
+  module \refmodule{imp}\refbimodindex{imp}, which defines some useful
+  operations out of which you can build your own
+  \function{__import__()} function.
+
+  For example, the statement \samp{import spam} results in the
+  following call: \code{__import__('spam',} \code{globals(),}
+  \code{locals(), [], -1)}; the statement \samp{from spam.ham import eggs}
+  results in \samp{__import__('spam.ham', globals(), locals(),
+  ['eggs'], -1)}.  Note that even though \code{locals()} and
+  \code{['eggs']} are passed in as arguments, the
+  \function{__import__()} function does not set the local variable
+  named \code{eggs}; this is done by subsequent code that is generated
+  for the import statement.  (In fact, the standard implementation
+  does not use its \var{locals} argument at all, and uses its
+  \var{globals} only to determine the package context of the
+  \keyword{import} statement.)
+
+  When the \var{name} variable is of the form \code{package.module},
+  normally, the top-level package (the name up till the first dot) is
+  returned, \emph{not} the module named by \var{name}.  However, when
+  a non-empty \var{fromlist} argument is given, the module named by
+  \var{name} is returned.  This is done for compatibility with the
+  bytecode generated for the different kinds of import statement; when
+  using \samp{import spam.ham.eggs}, the top-level package \module{spam}
+  must be placed in the importing namespace, but when using \samp{from
+  spam.ham import eggs}, the \code{spam.ham} subpackage must be used
+  to find the \code{eggs} variable.  As a workaround for this
+  behavior, use \function{getattr()} to extract the desired
+  components.  For example, you could define the following helper:
+
+\begin{verbatim}
+def my_import(name):
+    mod = __import__(name)
+    components = name.split('.')
+    for comp in components[1:]:
+        mod = getattr(mod, comp)
+    return mod
+\end{verbatim}
+
+  \var{level} specifies whether to use absolute or relative imports.
+  The default is \code{-1} which indicates both absolute and relative
+  imports will be attempted.  \code{0} means only perform absolute imports.
+  Positive values for \var{level} indicate the number of parent directories
+  to search relative to the directory of the module calling
+  \function{__import__}.
+\versionchanged[The level parameter was added]{2.5}
+\versionchanged[Keyword support for parameters was added]{2.5}
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{abs}{x}
+  Return the absolute value of a number.  The argument may be a plain
+  or long integer or a floating point number.  If the argument is a
+  complex number, its magnitude is returned.
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{all}{iterable}
+  Return True if all elements of the \var{iterable} are true.
+  Equivalent to:
+  \begin{verbatim}
+     def all(iterable):
+         for element in iterable:
+             if not element:
+                 return False
+         return True
+  \end{verbatim}
+  \versionadded{2.5}
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{any}{iterable}
+  Return True if any element of the \var{iterable} is true.
+  Equivalent to:
+  \begin{verbatim}
+     def any(iterable):
+         for element in iterable:
+             if element:
+                 return True
+         return False
+  \end{verbatim}
+  \versionadded{2.5}
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{basestring}{}
+  This abstract type is the superclass for \class{str} and \class{unicode}.
+  It cannot be called or instantiated, but it can be used to test whether
+  an object is an instance of \class{str} or \class{unicode}.
+  \code{isinstance(obj, basestring)} is equivalent to
+  \code{isinstance(obj, (str, unicode))}.
+  \versionadded{2.3}
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{bool}{\optional{x}}
+  Convert a value to a Boolean, using the standard truth testing
+  procedure.  If \var{x} is false or omitted, this returns
+  \constant{False}; otherwise it returns \constant{True}.
+  \class{bool} is also a class, which is a subclass of \class{int}.
+  Class \class{bool} cannot be subclassed further.  Its only instances
+  are \constant{False} and \constant{True}.
+
+  \indexii{Boolean}{type}
+  \versionadded{2.2.1}
+  \versionchanged[If no argument is given, this function returns
+                  \constant{False}]{2.3}
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{callable}{object}
+  Return true if the \var{object} argument appears callable, false if
+  not.  If this returns true, it is still possible that a call fails,
+  but if it is false, calling \var{object} will never succeed.  Note
+  that classes are callable (calling a class returns a new instance);
+  class instances are callable if they have a \method{__call__()}
+  method.
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{chr}{i}
+  Return a string of one character whose \ASCII{} code is the integer
+  \var{i}.  For example, \code{chr(97)} returns the string \code{'a'}.
+  This is the inverse of \function{ord()}.  The argument must be in
+  the range [0..255], inclusive; \exception{ValueError} will be raised
+  if \var{i} is outside that range.
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{classmethod}{function}
+  Return a class method for \var{function}.
+
+  A class method receives the class as implicit first argument,
+  just like an instance method receives the instance.
+  To declare a class method, use this idiom:
+
+\begin{verbatim}
+class C:
+    @classmethod
+    def f(cls, arg1, arg2, ...): ...
+\end{verbatim}
+
+  The \code{@classmethod} form is a function decorator -- see the description
+  of function definitions in chapter 7 of the
+  \citetitle[../ref/ref.html]{Python Reference Manual} for details.
+
+  It can be called either on the class (such as \code{C.f()}) or on an
+  instance (such as \code{C().f()}).  The instance is ignored except for
+  its class.
+  If a class method is called for a derived class, the derived class
+  object is passed as the implied first argument.
+
+  Class methods are different than \Cpp{} or Java static methods.
+  If you want those, see \function{staticmethod()} in this section.
+  
+  For more information on class methods, consult the documentation on the
+  standard type hierarchy in chapter 3 of the
+  \citetitle[../ref/types.html]{Python Reference Manual} (at the bottom).
+  \versionadded{2.2}
+  \versionchanged[Function decorator syntax added]{2.4}
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{cmp}{x, y}
+  Compare the two objects \var{x} and \var{y} and return an integer
+  according to the outcome.  The return value is negative if \code{\var{x}
+  < \var{y}}, zero if \code{\var{x} == \var{y}} and strictly positive if
+  \code{\var{x} > \var{y}}.
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{compile}{string, filename, kind\optional{,
+                          flags\optional{, dont_inherit}}}
+  Compile the \var{string} into a code object.  Code objects can be
+  executed by an \keyword{exec} statement or evaluated by a call to
+  \function{eval()}.  The \var{filename} argument should
+  give the file from which the code was read; pass some recognizable value
+  if it wasn't read from a file (\code{'<string>'} is commonly used).
+  The \var{kind} argument specifies what kind of code must be
+  compiled; it can be \code{'exec'} if \var{string} consists of a
+  sequence of statements, \code{'eval'} if it consists of a single
+  expression, or \code{'single'} if it consists of a single
+  interactive statement (in the latter case, expression statements
+  that evaluate to something else than \code{None} will be printed).
+
+  When compiling multi-line statements, two caveats apply: line
+  endings must be represented by a single newline character
+  (\code{'\e n'}), and the input must be terminated by at least one
+  newline character.  If line endings are represented by
+  \code{'\e r\e n'}, use the string \method{replace()} method to
+  change them into \code{'\e n'}.
+
+  The optional arguments \var{flags} and \var{dont_inherit}
+  (which are new in Python 2.2) control which future statements (see
+  \pep{236}) affect the compilation of \var{string}.  If neither is
+  present (or both are zero) the code is compiled with those future
+  statements that are in effect in the code that is calling compile.
+  If the \var{flags} argument is given and \var{dont_inherit} is not
+  (or is zero) then the future statements specified by the \var{flags}
+  argument are used in addition to those that would be used anyway.
+  If \var{dont_inherit} is a non-zero integer then the \var{flags}
+  argument is it -- the future statements in effect around the call to
+  compile are ignored.
+
+  Future statements are specified by bits which can be bitwise or-ed
+  together to specify multiple statements.  The bitfield required to
+  specify a given feature can be found as the \member{compiler_flag}
+  attribute on the \class{_Feature} instance in the
+  \module{__future__} module.
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{complex}{\optional{real\optional{, imag}}}
+  Create a complex number with the value \var{real} + \var{imag}*j or
+  convert a string or number to a complex number.  If the first
+  parameter is a string, it will be interpreted as a complex number
+  and the function must be called without a second parameter.  The
+  second parameter can never be a string.
+  Each argument may be any numeric type (including complex).
+  If \var{imag} is omitted, it defaults to zero and the function
+  serves as a numeric conversion function like \function{int()},
+  \function{long()} and \function{float()}.  If both arguments
+  are omitted, returns \code{0j}.
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{delattr}{object, name}
+  This is a relative of \function{setattr()}.  The arguments are an
+  object and a string.  The string must be the name
+  of one of the object's attributes.  The function deletes
+  the named attribute, provided the object allows it.  For example,
+  \code{delattr(\var{x}, '\var{foobar}')} is equivalent to
+  \code{del \var{x}.\var{foobar}}.
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{dict}{\optional{arg}}
+  Return a new dictionary initialized from an optional positional
+  argument or from a set of keyword arguments.
+  If no arguments are given, return a new empty dictionary.
+  If the positional argument \var{arg} is a mapping object, return a dictionary
+  mapping the same keys to the same values as does the mapping object.
+  Otherwise the positional argument must be a sequence, a container that
+  supports iteration, or an iterator object.  The elements of the argument
+  must each also be of one of those kinds, and each must in turn contain
+  exactly two objects.  The first is used as a key in the new dictionary,
+  and the second as the key's value.  If a given key is seen more than
+  once, the last value associated with it is retained in the new
+  dictionary.
+
+  If keyword arguments are given, the keywords themselves with their
+  associated values are added as items to the dictionary. If a key
+  is specified both in the positional argument and as a keyword argument,
+  the value associated with the keyword is retained in the dictionary.
+  For example, these all return a dictionary equal to
+  \code{\{"one": 2, "two": 3\}}:
+
+  \begin{itemize}
+    \item \code{dict(\{'one': 2, 'two': 3\})}
+    \item \code{dict(\{'one': 2, 'two': 3\}.items())}
+    \item \code{dict(\{'one': 2, 'two': 3\}.iteritems())}
+    \item \code{dict(zip(('one', 'two'), (2, 3)))}
+    \item \code{dict([['two', 3], ['one', 2]])}
+    \item \code{dict(one=2, two=3)}
+    \item \code{dict([(['one', 'two'][i-2], i) for i in (2, 3)])}
+  \end{itemize}
+
+  \versionadded{2.2}
+  \versionchanged[Support for building a dictionary from keyword
+                  arguments added]{2.3}
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{dir}{\optional{object}}
+  Without arguments, return the list of names in the current local
+  symbol table.  With an argument, attempts to return a list of valid
+  attributes for that object.  This information is gleaned from the
+  object's \member{__dict__} attribute, if defined, and from the class
+  or type object.  The list is not necessarily complete.
+  If the object is a module object, the list contains the names of the
+  module's attributes.
+  If the object is a type or class object,
+  the list contains the names of its attributes,
+  and recursively of the attributes of its bases.
+  Otherwise, the list contains the object's attributes' names,
+  the names of its class's attributes,
+  and recursively of the attributes of its class's base classes.
+  The resulting list is sorted alphabetically.
+  For example:
+
+\begin{verbatim}
+>>> import struct
+>>> dir()
+['__builtins__', '__doc__', '__name__', 'struct']
+>>> dir(struct)
+['__doc__', '__name__', 'calcsize', 'error', 'pack', 'unpack']
+\end{verbatim}
+
+  \note{Because \function{dir()} is supplied primarily as a convenience
+  for use at an interactive prompt,
+  it tries to supply an interesting set of names more than it tries to
+  supply a rigorously or consistently defined set of names,
+  and its detailed behavior may change across releases.}
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{divmod}{a, b}
+  Take two (non complex) numbers as arguments and return a pair of numbers
+  consisting of their quotient and remainder when using long division.  With
+  mixed operand types, the rules for binary arithmetic operators apply.  For
+  plain and long integers, the result is the same as
+  \code{(\var{a} // \var{b}, \var{a} \%{} \var{b})}.
+  For floating point numbers the result is \code{(\var{q}, \var{a} \%{}
+  \var{b})}, where \var{q} is usually \code{math.floor(\var{a} /
+  \var{b})} but may be 1 less than that.  In any case \code{\var{q} *
+  \var{b} + \var{a} \%{} \var{b}} is very close to \var{a}, if
+  \code{\var{a} \%{} \var{b}} is non-zero it has the same sign as
+  \var{b}, and \code{0 <= abs(\var{a} \%{} \var{b}) < abs(\var{b})}.
+
+  \versionchanged[Using \function{divmod()} with complex numbers is
+                  deprecated]{2.3}
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{enumerate}{iterable}
+  Return an enumerate object. \var{iterable} must be a sequence, an
+  iterator, or some other object which supports iteration.  The
+  \method{next()} method of the iterator returned by
+  \function{enumerate()} returns a tuple containing a count (from
+  zero) and the corresponding value obtained from iterating over
+  \var{iterable}.  \function{enumerate()} is useful for obtaining an
+  indexed series: \code{(0, seq[0])}, \code{(1, seq[1])}, \code{(2,
+  seq[2])}, \ldots.
+  \versionadded{2.3}
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{eval}{expression\optional{, globals\optional{, locals}}}
+  The arguments are a string and optional globals and locals.  If provided,
+  \var{globals} must be a dictionary.  If provided, \var{locals} can be
+  any mapping object.  \versionchanged[formerly \var{locals} was required
+  to be a dictionary]{2.4}
+
+  The \var{expression} argument is parsed and evaluated as a Python
+  expression (technically speaking, a condition list) using the
+  \var{globals} and \var{locals} dictionaries as global and local name
+  space.  If the \var{globals} dictionary is present and lacks
+  '__builtins__', the current globals are copied into \var{globals} before
+  \var{expression} is parsed.  This means that \var{expression}
+  normally has full access to the standard
+  \refmodule[builtin]{__builtin__} module and restricted environments
+  are propagated.  If the \var{locals} dictionary is omitted it defaults to
+  the \var{globals} dictionary.  If both dictionaries are omitted, the
+  expression is executed in the environment where \keyword{eval} is
+  called.  The return value is the result of the evaluated expression.
+  Syntax errors are reported as exceptions.  Example:
+
+\begin{verbatim}
+>>> x = 1
+>>> print eval('x+1')
+2
+\end{verbatim}
+
+  This function can also be used to execute arbitrary code objects
+  (such as those created by \function{compile()}).  In this case pass
+  a code object instead of a string.  The code object must have been
+  compiled passing \code{'eval'} as the \var{kind} argument.
+
+  Hints: dynamic execution of statements is supported by the
+  \keyword{exec} statement.  Execution of statements from a file is
+  supported by the \function{execfile()} function.  The
+  \function{globals()} and \function{locals()} functions returns the
+  current global and local dictionary, respectively, which may be
+  useful to pass around for use by \function{eval()} or
+  \function{execfile()}.
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{execfile}{filename\optional{, globals\optional{, locals}}}
+  This function is similar to the
+  \keyword{exec} statement, but parses a file instead of a string.  It
+  is different from the \keyword{import} statement in that it does not
+  use the module administration --- it reads the file unconditionally
+  and does not create a new module.\footnote{It is used relatively
+  rarely so does not warrant being made into a statement.}
+
+  The arguments are a file name and two optional dictionaries.  The file is
+  parsed and evaluated as a sequence of Python statements (similarly to a
+  module) using the \var{globals} and \var{locals} dictionaries as global and
+  local namespace. If provided, \var{locals} can be any mapping object.
+  \versionchanged[formerly \var{locals} was required to be a dictionary]{2.4}
+  If the \var{locals} dictionary is omitted it defaults to the \var{globals}
+  dictionary. If both dictionaries are omitted, the expression is executed in
+  the environment where \function{execfile()} is called.  The return value is
+  \code{None}.
+
+  \warning{The default \var{locals} act as described for function
+  \function{locals()} below:  modifications to the default \var{locals}
+  dictionary should not be attempted.  Pass an explicit \var{locals}
+  dictionary if you need to see effects of the code on \var{locals} after
+  function \function{execfile()} returns.  \function{execfile()} cannot
+  be used reliably to modify a function's locals.}
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{file}{filename\optional{, mode\optional{, bufsize}}}
+  Constructor function for the \class{file} type, described further 
+  in section~\ref{bltin-file-objects}, ``\ulink{File
+  Objects}{bltin-file-objects.html}''.  The constructor's arguments
+  are the same as those of the \function{open()} built-in function
+  described below.
+
+  When opening a file, it's preferable to use \function{open()} instead of 
+  invoking this constructor directly.  \class{file} is more suited to
+  type testing (for example, writing \samp{isinstance(f, file)}).
+
+  \versionadded{2.2}
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{filter}{function, iterable}
+  Construct a list from those elements of \var{iterable} for which
+  \var{function} returns true.  \var{iterable} may be either a sequence, a
+  container which supports iteration, or an iterator,  If \var{iterable}
+  is a string or a tuple, the result
+  also has that type; otherwise it is always a list.  If \var{function} is
+  \code{None}, the identity function is assumed, that is, all elements of
+  \var{iterable} that are false are removed.
+
+  Note that \code{filter(function, \var{iterable})} is equivalent to
+  \code{[item for item in \var{iterable} if function(item)]} if function is
+  not \code{None} and \code{[item for item in \var{iterable} if item]} if
+  function is \code{None}.
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{float}{\optional{x}}
+  Convert a string or a number to floating point.  If the argument is a
+  string, it must contain a possibly signed decimal or floating point
+  number, possibly embedded in whitespace. Otherwise, the argument may be a plain
+  or long integer or a floating point number, and a floating point
+  number with the same value (within Python's floating point
+  precision) is returned.  If no argument is given, returns \code{0.0}.
+
+  \note{When passing in a string, values for NaN\index{NaN}
+  and Infinity\index{Infinity} may be returned, depending on the
+  underlying C library.  The specific set of strings accepted which
+  cause these values to be returned depends entirely on the C library
+  and is known to vary.}
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{frozenset}{\optional{iterable}}
+  Return a frozenset object whose elements are taken from \var{iterable}.
+  Frozensets are sets that have no update methods but can be hashed and
+  used as members of other sets or as dictionary keys.  The elements of
+  a frozenset must be immutable themselves.  To represent sets of sets,
+  the inner sets should also be \class{frozenset} objects.  If
+  \var{iterable} is not specified, returns a new empty set,
+  \code{frozenset([])}.
+  \versionadded{2.4}
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{getattr}{object, name\optional{, default}}
+  Return the value of the named attributed of \var{object}.  \var{name}
+  must be a string.  If the string is the name of one of the object's
+  attributes, the result is the value of that attribute.  For example,
+  \code{getattr(x, 'foobar')} is equivalent to \code{x.foobar}.  If the
+  named attribute does not exist, \var{default} is returned if provided,
+  otherwise \exception{AttributeError} is raised.
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{globals}{}
+  Return a dictionary representing the current global symbol table.
+  This is always the dictionary of the current module (inside a
+  function or method, this is the module where it is defined, not the
+  module from which it is called).
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{hasattr}{object, name}
+  The arguments are an object and a string.  The result is \code{True} if the
+  string is the name of one of the object's attributes, \code{False} if not.
+  (This is implemented by calling \code{getattr(\var{object},
+  \var{name})} and seeing whether it raises an exception or not.)
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{hash}{object}
+  Return the hash value of the object (if it has one).  Hash values
+  are integers.  They are used to quickly compare dictionary
+  keys during a dictionary lookup.  Numeric values that compare equal
+  have the same hash value (even if they are of different types, as is
+  the case for 1 and 1.0).
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{help}{\optional{object}}
+  Invoke the built-in help system.  (This function is intended for
+  interactive use.)  If no argument is given, the interactive help
+  system starts on the interpreter console.  If the argument is a
+  string, then the string is looked up as the name of a module,
+  function, class, method, keyword, or documentation topic, and a
+  help page is printed on the console.  If the argument is any other
+  kind of object, a help page on the object is generated.
+  \versionadded{2.2}
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{hex}{x}
+  Convert an integer number (of any size) to a hexadecimal string.
+  The result is a valid Python expression.
+  \versionchanged[Formerly only returned an unsigned literal]{2.4}
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{id}{object}
+  Return the ``identity'' of an object.  This is an integer (or long
+  integer) which is guaranteed to be unique and constant for this
+  object during its lifetime.  Two objects with non-overlapping lifetimes
+  may have the same \function{id()} value.  (Implementation
+  note: this is the address of the object.)
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{input}{\optional{prompt}}
+  Equivalent to \code{eval(raw_input(\var{prompt}))}.
+  \warning{This function is not safe from user errors!  It
+  expects a valid Python expression as input; if the input is not
+  syntactically valid, a \exception{SyntaxError} will be raised.
+  Other exceptions may be raised if there is an error during
+  evaluation.  (On the other hand, sometimes this is exactly what you
+  need when writing a quick script for expert use.)}
+
+  If the \refmodule{readline} module was loaded, then
+  \function{input()} will use it to provide elaborate line editing and
+  history features.
+
+  Consider using the \function{raw_input()} function for general input
+  from users.
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{int}{\optional{x\optional{, radix}}}
+  Convert a string or number to a plain integer.  If the argument is a
+  string, it must contain a possibly signed decimal number
+  representable as a Python integer, possibly embedded in whitespace.
+  The \var{radix} parameter gives the base for the
+  conversion and may be any integer in the range [2, 36], or zero.  If
+  \var{radix} is zero, the proper radix is guessed based on the
+  contents of string; the interpretation is the same as for integer
+  literals.  If \var{radix} is specified and \var{x} is not a string,
+  \exception{TypeError} is raised.
+  Otherwise, the argument may be a plain or
+  long integer or a floating point number.  Conversion of floating
+  point numbers to integers truncates (towards zero).
+  If the argument is outside the integer range a long object will
+  be returned instead.  If no arguments are given, returns \code{0}.
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{isinstance}{object, classinfo}
+  Return true if the \var{object} argument is an instance of the
+  \var{classinfo} argument, or of a (direct or indirect) subclass
+  thereof.  Also return true if \var{classinfo} is a type object
+  (new-style class) and \var{object} is an object of that type or of a
+  (direct or indirect) subclass thereof.  If \var{object} is not a
+  class instance or an object of the given type, the function always
+  returns false.  If \var{classinfo} is neither a class object nor a
+  type object, it may be a tuple of class or type objects, or may
+  recursively contain other such tuples (other sequence types are not
+  accepted).  If \var{classinfo} is not a class, type, or tuple of
+  classes, types, and such tuples, a \exception{TypeError} exception
+  is raised.
+  \versionchanged[Support for a tuple of type information was added]{2.2}
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{issubclass}{class, classinfo}
+  Return true if \var{class} is a subclass (direct or indirect) of
+  \var{classinfo}.  A class is considered a subclass of itself.
+  \var{classinfo} may be a tuple of class objects, in which case every
+  entry in \var{classinfo} will be checked. In any other case, a
+  \exception{TypeError} exception is raised.
+  \versionchanged[Support for a tuple of type information was added]{2.3}
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{iter}{o\optional{, sentinel}}
+  Return an iterator object.  The first argument is interpreted very
+  differently depending on the presence of the second argument.
+  Without a second argument, \var{o} must be a collection object which
+  supports the iteration protocol (the \method{__iter__()} method), or
+  it must support the sequence protocol (the \method{__getitem__()}
+  method with integer arguments starting at \code{0}).  If it does not
+  support either of those protocols, \exception{TypeError} is raised.
+  If the second argument, \var{sentinel}, is given, then \var{o} must
+  be a callable object.  The iterator created in this case will call
+  \var{o} with no arguments for each call to its \method{next()}
+  method; if the value returned is equal to \var{sentinel},
+  \exception{StopIteration} will be raised, otherwise the value will
+  be returned.
+  \versionadded{2.2}
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{len}{s}
+  Return the length (the number of items) of an object.  The argument
+  may be a sequence (string, tuple or list) or a mapping (dictionary).
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{list}{\optional{iterable}}
+  Return a list whose items are the same and in the same order as
+  \var{iterable}'s items.  \var{iterable} may be either a sequence, a
+  container that supports iteration, or an iterator object.  If
+  \var{iterable} is already a list, a copy is made and returned,
+  similar to \code{\var{iterable}[:]}.  For instance,
+  \code{list('abc')} returns \code{['a', 'b', 'c']} and \code{list(
+  (1, 2, 3) )} returns \code{[1, 2, 3]}.  If no argument is given,
+  returns a new empty list, \code{[]}.
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{locals}{}
+  Update and return a dictionary representing the current local symbol table.
+  \warning{The contents of this dictionary should not be modified;
+  changes may not affect the values of local variables used by the
+  interpreter.}
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{long}{\optional{x\optional{, radix}}}
+  Convert a string or number to a long integer.  If the argument is a
+  string, it must contain a possibly signed number of
+  arbitrary size, possibly embedded in whitespace. The
+  \var{radix} argument is interpreted in the same way as for
+  \function{int()}, and may only be given when \var{x} is a string.
+  Otherwise, the argument may be a plain or
+  long integer or a floating point number, and a long integer with
+  the same value is returned.    Conversion of floating
+  point numbers to integers truncates (towards zero).  If no arguments
+  are given, returns \code{0L}.
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{map}{function, iterable, ...}
+  Apply \var{function} to every item of \var{iterable} and return a list
+  of the results.  If additional \var{iterable} arguments are passed,
+  \var{function} must take that many arguments and is applied to the
+  items from all iterables in parallel.  If one iterable is shorter than another it
+  is assumed to be extended with \code{None} items.  If \var{function}
+  is \code{None}, the identity function is assumed; if there are
+  multiple arguments, \function{map()} returns a list consisting
+  of tuples containing the corresponding items from all iterables (a kind
+  of transpose operation).  The \var{iterable} arguments may be a sequence 
+  or any iterable object; the result is always a list.
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{max}{iterable\optional{, args...}\optional{key}}
+  With a single argument \var{iterable}, return the largest item of a
+  non-empty iterable (such as a string, tuple or list).  With more
+  than one argument, return the largest of the arguments.
+
+  The optional \var{key} argument specifies a one-argument ordering
+  function like that used for \method{list.sort()}.  The \var{key}
+  argument, if supplied, must be in keyword form (for example,
+  \samp{max(a,b,c,key=func)}).
+  \versionchanged[Added support for the optional \var{key} argument]{2.5}
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{min}{iterable\optional{, args...}\optional{key}}
+  With a single argument \var{iterable}, return the smallest item of a
+  non-empty iterable (such as a string, tuple or list).  With more
+  than one argument, return the smallest of the arguments.
+
+  The optional \var{key} argument specifies a one-argument ordering
+  function like that used for \method{list.sort()}.  The \var{key}
+  argument, if supplied, must be in keyword form (for example,
+  \samp{min(a,b,c,key=func)}).
+  \versionchanged[Added support for the optional \var{key} argument]{2.5}
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{object}{}
+  Return a new featureless object.  \class{object} is a base
+  for all new style classes.  It has the methods that are common
+  to all instances of new style classes.
+  \versionadded{2.2}
+
+  \versionchanged[This function does not accept any arguments.
+  Formerly, it accepted arguments but ignored them]{2.3}
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{oct}{x}
+  Convert an integer number (of any size) to an octal string.  The
+  result is a valid Python expression.
+  \versionchanged[Formerly only returned an unsigned literal]{2.4}
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{open}{filename\optional{, mode\optional{, bufsize}}}
+  Open a file, returning an object of the \class{file} type described
+  in section~\ref{bltin-file-objects}, ``\ulink{File
+  Objects}{bltin-file-objects.html}''.  If the file cannot be opened,
+  \exception{IOError} is raised.  When opening a file, it's
+  preferable to use \function{open()} instead of invoking the
+  \class{file} constructor directly.
+
+  The first two arguments are the same as for \code{stdio}'s
+  \cfunction{fopen()}: \var{filename} is the file name to be opened,
+  and \var{mode} is a string indicating how the file is to be opened.
+
+  The most commonly-used values of \var{mode} are \code{'r'} for
+  reading, \code{'w'} for writing (truncating the file if it already
+  exists), and \code{'a'} for appending (which on \emph{some} \UNIX{}
+  systems means that \emph{all} writes append to the end of the file
+  regardless of the current seek position).  If \var{mode} is omitted,
+  it defaults to \code{'r'}.  When opening a binary file, you should
+  append \code{'b'} to the \var{mode} value to open the file in binary
+  mode, which will improve portability.  (Appending \code{'b'} is
+  useful even on systems that don't treat binary and text files
+  differently, where it serves as documentation.)  See below for more
+  possible values of \var{mode}.
+
+  \index{line-buffered I/O}\index{unbuffered I/O}\index{buffer size, I/O}
+  \index{I/O control!buffering}
+  The optional \var{bufsize} argument specifies the
+  file's desired buffer size: 0 means unbuffered, 1 means line
+  buffered, any other positive value means use a buffer of
+  (approximately) that size.  A negative \var{bufsize} means to use
+  the system default, which is usually line buffered for tty
+  devices and fully buffered for other files.  If omitted, the system
+  default is used.\footnote{
+    Specifying a buffer size currently has no effect on systems that
+    don't have \cfunction{setvbuf()}.  The interface to specify the
+    buffer size is not done using a method that calls
+    \cfunction{setvbuf()}, because that may dump core when called
+    after any I/O has been performed, and there's no reliable way to
+    determine whether this is the case.}
+
+  Modes \code{'r+'}, \code{'w+'} and \code{'a+'} open the file for
+  updating (note that \code{'w+'} truncates the file).  Append
+  \code{'b'} to the mode to open the file in binary mode, on systems
+  that differentiate between binary and text files; on systems
+  that don't have this distinction, adding the \code{'b'} has no effect.
+  
+  In addition to the standard \cfunction{fopen()} values \var{mode}
+  may be \code{'U'} or \code{'rU'}.  Python is usually built with universal
+  newline support; supplying \code{'U'} opens the file as a text file, but
+  lines may be terminated by any of the following: the \UNIX{} end-of-line
+  convention \code{'\e n'}, 
+  the Macintosh convention \code{'\e r'}, or the Windows
+  convention \code{'\e r\e n'}. All of these external representations are seen as
+  \code{'\e n'}
+  by the Python program. If Python is built without universal newline support
+  a \var{mode} with \code{'U'} is the same as normal text mode.  Note that
+  file objects so opened also have an attribute called
+  \member{newlines} which has a value of \code{None} (if no newlines
+  have yet been seen), \code{'\e n'}, \code{'\e r'}, \code{'\e r\e n'},
+  or a tuple containing all the newline types seen.
+
+  Python enforces that the mode, after stripping \code{'U'}, begins with
+  \code{'r'}, \code{'w'} or \code{'a'}.
+
+  \versionchanged[Restriction on first letter of mode string
+                  introduced]{2.5}
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{ord}{c}
+  Given a string of length one, return an integer representing the
+  Unicode code point of the character when the argument is a unicode object,
+  or the value of the byte when the argument is an 8-bit string.
+  For example, \code{ord('a')} returns the integer \code{97},
+  \code{ord(u'\e u2020')} returns \code{8224}.  This is the inverse of
+  \function{chr()} for 8-bit strings and of \function{unichr()} for unicode
+  objects.  If a unicode argument is given and Python was built with
+  UCS2 Unicode, then the character's code point must be in the range
+  [0..65535] inclusive; otherwise the string length is two, and a
+  \exception{TypeError} will be raised.
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{pow}{x, y\optional{, z}}
+  Return \var{x} to the power \var{y}; if \var{z} is present, return
+  \var{x} to the power \var{y}, modulo \var{z} (computed more
+  efficiently than \code{pow(\var{x}, \var{y}) \%\ \var{z}}).
+  The two-argument form \code{pow(\var{x}, \var{y})} is equivalent to using
+  the power operator: \code{\var{x}**\var{y}}.
+  
+  The arguments must have numeric types.  With mixed operand types, the
+  coercion rules for binary arithmetic operators apply.  For int and
+  long int operands, the result has the same type as the operands
+  (after coercion) unless the second argument is negative; in that
+  case, all arguments are converted to float and a float result is
+  delivered.  For example, \code{10**2} returns \code{100}, but
+  \code{10**-2} returns \code{0.01}.  (This last feature was added in
+  Python 2.2.  In Python 2.1 and before, if both arguments were of integer
+  types and the second argument was negative, an exception was raised.)
+  If the second argument is negative, the third argument must be omitted.
+  If \var{z} is present, \var{x} and \var{y} must be of integer types,
+  and \var{y} must be non-negative.  (This restriction was added in
+  Python 2.2.  In Python 2.1 and before, floating 3-argument \code{pow()}
+  returned platform-dependent results depending on floating-point
+  rounding accidents.)
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{property}{\optional{fget\optional{, fset\optional{,
+                           fdel\optional{, doc}}}}}
+  Return a property attribute for new-style classes (classes that
+  derive from \class{object}).
+
+  \var{fget} is a function for getting an attribute value, likewise
+  \var{fset} is a function for setting, and \var{fdel} a function
+  for del'ing, an attribute.  Typical use is to define a managed attribute x:
+
+\begin{verbatim}
+class C(object):
+    def __init__(self): self._x = None
+    def getx(self): return self._x
+    def setx(self, value): self._x = value
+    def delx(self): del self._x
+    x = property(getx, setx, delx, "I'm the 'x' property.")
+\end{verbatim}
+
+  If given, \var{doc} will be the docstring of the property attribute.
+  Otherwise, the property will copy \var{fget}'s docstring (if it
+  exists).  This makes it possible to create read-only properties
+  easily using \function{property()} as a decorator:
+
+\begin{verbatim}
+class Parrot(object):
+    def __init__(self):
+        self._voltage = 100000
+
+    @property
+    def voltage(self):
+        """Get the current voltage."""
+        return self._voltage
+\end{verbatim}
+
+  turns the \method{voltage()} method into a ``getter'' for a read-only
+  attribute with the same name.
+
+  \versionadded{2.2}
+  \versionchanged[Use \var{fget}'s docstring if no \var{doc} given]{2.5}
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{range}{\optional{start,} stop\optional{, step}}
+  This is a versatile function to create lists containing arithmetic
+  progressions.  It is most often used in \keyword{for} loops.  The
+  arguments must be plain integers.  If the \var{step} argument is
+  omitted, it defaults to \code{1}.  If the \var{start} argument is
+  omitted, it defaults to \code{0}.  The full form returns a list of
+  plain integers \code{[\var{start}, \var{start} + \var{step},
+  \var{start} + 2 * \var{step}, \ldots]}.  If \var{step} is positive,
+  the last element is the largest \code{\var{start} + \var{i} *
+  \var{step}} less than \var{stop}; if \var{step} is negative, the last
+  element is the smallest \code{\var{start} + \var{i} * \var{step}}
+  greater than \var{stop}.  \var{step} must not be zero (or else
+  \exception{ValueError} is raised).  Example:
+
+\begin{verbatim}
+>>> range(10)
+[0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]
+>>> range(1, 11)
+[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]
+>>> range(0, 30, 5)
+[0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25]
+>>> range(0, 10, 3)
+[0, 3, 6, 9]
+>>> range(0, -10, -1)
+[0, -1, -2, -3, -4, -5, -6, -7, -8, -9]
+>>> range(0)
+[]
+>>> range(1, 0)
+[]
+\end{verbatim}
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{raw_input}{\optional{prompt}}
+  If the \var{prompt} argument is present, it is written to standard output
+  without a trailing newline.  The function then reads a line from input,
+  converts it to a string (stripping a trailing newline), and returns that.
+  When \EOF{} is read, \exception{EOFError} is raised. Example:
+
+\begin{verbatim}
+>>> s = raw_input('--> ')
+--> Monty Python's Flying Circus
+>>> s
+"Monty Python's Flying Circus"
+\end{verbatim}
+
+  If the \refmodule{readline} module was loaded, then
+  \function{raw_input()} will use it to provide elaborate
+  line editing and history features.
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{reduce}{function, iterable\optional{, initializer}}
+  Apply \var{function} of two arguments cumulatively to the items of
+  \var{iterable}, from left to right, so as to reduce the iterable to
+  a single value.  For example, \code{reduce(lambda x, y: x+y, [1, 2,
+  3, 4, 5])} calculates \code{((((1+2)+3)+4)+5)}.  The left argument,
+  \var{x}, is the accumulated value and the right argument, \var{y},
+  is the update value from the \var{iterable}.  If the optional
+  \var{initializer} is present, it is placed before the items of the
+  iterable in the calculation, and serves as a default when the
+  iterable is empty.  If \var{initializer} is not given and
+  \var{iterable} contains only one item, the first item is returned.
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{reload}{module}
+  Reload a previously imported \var{module}.  The
+  argument must be a module object, so it must have been successfully
+  imported before.  This is useful if you have edited the module
+  source file using an external editor and want to try out the new
+  version without leaving the Python interpreter.  The return value is
+  the module object (the same as the \var{module} argument).
+
+  When \code{reload(module)} is executed:
+
+\begin{itemize}
+
+    \item Python modules' code is recompiled and the module-level code
+    reexecuted, defining a new set of objects which are bound to names in
+    the module's dictionary.  The \code{init} function of extension
+    modules is not called a second time.
+
+    \item As with all other objects in Python the old objects are only
+    reclaimed after their reference counts drop to zero.
+
+    \item The names in the module namespace are updated to point to
+    any new or changed objects.
+
+    \item Other references to the old objects (such as names external
+    to the module) are not rebound to refer to the new objects and
+    must be updated in each namespace where they occur if that is
+    desired.
+
+\end{itemize}
+
+  There are a number of other caveats:
+
+  If a module is syntactically correct but its initialization fails,
+  the first \keyword{import} statement for it does not bind its name
+  locally, but does store a (partially initialized) module object in
+  \code{sys.modules}.  To reload the module you must first
+  \keyword{import} it again (this will bind the name to the partially
+  initialized module object) before you can \function{reload()} it.
+
+  When a module is reloaded, its dictionary (containing the module's
+  global variables) is retained.  Redefinitions of names will override
+  the old definitions, so this is generally not a problem.  If the new
+  version of a module does not define a name that was defined by the
+  old version, the old definition remains.  This feature can be used
+  to the module's advantage if it maintains a global table or cache of
+  objects --- with a \keyword{try} statement it can test for the
+  table's presence and skip its initialization if desired:
+
+\begin{verbatim}
+try:
+    cache
+except NameError:
+    cache = {}
+\end{verbatim}
+
+
+  It is legal though generally not very useful to reload built-in or
+  dynamically loaded modules, except for \refmodule{sys},
+  \refmodule[main]{__main__} and \refmodule[builtin]{__builtin__}.  In
+  many cases, however, extension modules are not designed to be
+  initialized more than once, and may fail in arbitrary ways when
+  reloaded.
+
+  If a module imports objects from another module using \keyword{from}
+  \ldots{} \keyword{import} \ldots{}, calling \function{reload()} for
+  the other module does not redefine the objects imported from it ---
+  one way around this is to re-execute the \keyword{from} statement,
+  another is to use \keyword{import} and qualified names
+  (\var{module}.\var{name}) instead.
+
+  If a module instantiates instances of a class, reloading the module
+  that defines the class does not affect the method definitions of the
+  instances --- they continue to use the old class definition.  The
+  same is true for derived classes.
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{repr}{object}
+  Return a string containing a printable representation of an object.
+  This is the same value yielded by conversions (reverse quotes).
+  It is sometimes useful to be able to access this operation as an
+  ordinary function.  For many types, this function makes an attempt
+  to return a string that would yield an object with the same value
+  when passed to \function{eval()}.
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{reversed}{seq}
+  Return a reverse iterator.  \var{seq} must be an object which
+  supports the sequence protocol (the __len__() method and the
+  \method{__getitem__()} method with integer arguments starting at
+  \code{0}).
+  \versionadded{2.4}
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{round}{x\optional{, n}}
+  Return the floating point value \var{x} rounded to \var{n} digits
+  after the decimal point.  If \var{n} is omitted, it defaults to zero.
+  The result is a floating point number.  Values are rounded to the
+  closest multiple of 10 to the power minus \var{n}; if two multiples
+  are equally close, rounding is done away from 0 (so. for example,
+  \code{round(0.5)} is \code{1.0} and \code{round(-0.5)} is \code{-1.0}).
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{set}{\optional{iterable}}
+  Return a set whose elements are taken from \var{iterable}.  The elements
+  must be immutable.  To represent sets of sets, the inner sets should
+  be \class{frozenset} objects.  If \var{iterable} is not specified,
+  returns a new empty set, \code{set([])}.
+  \versionadded{2.4}
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{setattr}{object, name, value}
+  This is the counterpart of \function{getattr()}.  The arguments are an
+  object, a string and an arbitrary value.  The string may name an
+  existing attribute or a new attribute.  The function assigns the
+  value to the attribute, provided the object allows it.  For example,
+  \code{setattr(\var{x}, '\var{foobar}', 123)} is equivalent to
+  \code{\var{x}.\var{foobar} = 123}.
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{slice}{\optional{start,} stop\optional{, step}}
+  Return a slice object representing the set of indices specified by
+  \code{range(\var{start}, \var{stop}, \var{step})}.  The \var{start}
+  and \var{step} arguments default to \code{None}.  Slice objects have
+  read-only data attributes \member{start}, \member{stop} and
+  \member{step} which merely return the argument values (or their
+  default).  They have no other explicit functionality; however they
+  are used by Numerical Python\index{Numerical Python} and other third
+  party extensions.  Slice objects are also generated when extended
+  indexing syntax is used.  For example: \samp{a[start:stop:step]} or
+  \samp{a[start:stop, i]}.
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{sorted}{iterable\optional{, cmp\optional{,
+                         key\optional{, reverse}}}}
+  Return a new sorted list from the items in \var{iterable}.
+
+  The optional arguments \var{cmp}, \var{key}, and \var{reverse} have
+  the same meaning as those for the \method{list.sort()} method
+  (described in section~\ref{typesseq-mutable}).
+
+  \var{cmp} specifies a custom comparison function of two arguments
+  (iterable elements) which should return a negative, zero or positive
+  number depending on whether the first argument is considered smaller
+  than, equal to, or larger than the second argument:
+  \samp{\var{cmp}=\keyword{lambda} \var{x},\var{y}:
+  \function{cmp}(x.lower(), y.lower())}
+     
+  \var{key} specifies a function of one argument that is used to
+     extract a comparison key from each list element:
+     \samp{\var{key}=\function{str.lower}}
+
+  \var{reverse} is a boolean value.  If set to \code{True}, then the
+     list elements are sorted as if each comparison were reversed.
+
+  In general, the \var{key} and \var{reverse} conversion processes are
+  much faster than specifying an equivalent \var{cmp} function.  This is
+  because \var{cmp} is called multiple times for each list element while
+  \var{key} and \var{reverse} touch each element only once.
+
+  \versionadded{2.4}
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{staticmethod}{function}
+  Return a static method for \var{function}.
+
+  A static method does not receive an implicit first argument.
+  To declare a static method, use this idiom:
+
+\begin{verbatim}
+class C:
+    @staticmethod
+    def f(arg1, arg2, ...): ...
+\end{verbatim}
+
+  The \code{@staticmethod} form is a function decorator -- see the description
+  of function definitions in chapter 7 of the
+  \citetitle[../ref/function.html]{Python Reference Manual} for details.
+
+  It can be called either on the class (such as \code{C.f()}) or on an
+  instance (such as \code{C().f()}).  The instance is ignored except
+  for its class.
+
+  Static methods in Python are similar to those found in Java or \Cpp.
+  For a more advanced concept, see \function{classmethod()} in this
+  section.
+  
+  For more information on static methods, consult the documentation on the
+  standard type hierarchy in chapter 3 of the
+  \citetitle[../ref/types.html]{Python Reference Manual} (at the bottom).
+  \versionadded{2.2}
+  \versionchanged[Function decorator syntax added]{2.4}
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{str}{\optional{object}}
+  Return a string containing a nicely printable representation of an
+  object.  For strings, this returns the string itself.  The
+  difference with \code{repr(\var{object})} is that
+  \code{str(\var{object})} does not always attempt to return a string
+  that is acceptable to \function{eval()}; its goal is to return a
+  printable string.  If no argument is given, returns the empty
+  string, \code{''}.
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{sum}{iterable\optional{, start}}
+  Sums \var{start} and the items of an \var{iterable} from left to
+  right and returns the total.  \var{start} defaults to \code{0}.
+  The \var{iterable}'s items are normally numbers, and are not allowed
+  to be strings.  The fast, correct way to concatenate a sequence of
+  strings is by calling \code{''.join(\var{sequence})}.
+  Note that \code{sum(range(\var{n}), \var{m})} is equivalent to
+  \code{reduce(operator.add, range(\var{n}), \var{m})}
+  \versionadded{2.3}
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{super}{type\optional{, object-or-type}}
+  Return the superclass of \var{type}.  If the second argument is omitted
+  the super object returned is unbound.  If the second argument is an
+  object, \code{isinstance(\var{obj}, \var{type})} must be true.  If
+  the second argument is a type, \code{issubclass(\var{type2},
+  \var{type})} must be true.
+  \function{super()} only works for new-style classes.
+
+  A typical use for calling a cooperative superclass method is:
+\begin{verbatim}
+class C(B):
+    def meth(self, arg):
+        super(C, self).meth(arg)
+\end{verbatim}
+
+  Note that \function{super} is implemented as part of the binding process for
+  explicit dotted attribute lookups such as
+  \samp{super(C, self).__getitem__(name)}.  Accordingly, \function{super} is
+  undefined for implicit lookups using statements or operators such as
+  \samp{super(C, self)[name]}.
+\versionadded{2.2}
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{tuple}{\optional{iterable}}
+  Return a tuple whose items are the same and in the same order as
+  \var{iterable}'s items.  \var{iterable} may be a sequence, a
+  container that supports iteration, or an iterator object.
+  If \var{iterable} is already a tuple, it
+  is returned unchanged.  For instance, \code{tuple('abc')} returns
+  \code{('a', 'b', 'c')} and \code{tuple([1, 2, 3])} returns
+  \code{(1, 2, 3)}.  If no argument is given, returns a new empty
+  tuple, \code{()}.
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{type}{object}
+  Return the type of an \var{object}.  The return value is a
+  type\obindex{type} object.  The \function{isinstance()} built-in
+  function is recommended for testing the type of an object.
+
+  With three arguments, \function{type} functions as a constructor
+  as detailed below.
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{type}{name, bases, dict}
+  Return a new type object.  This is essentially a dynamic form of the
+  \keyword{class} statement. The \var{name} string is the class name
+  and becomes the \member{__name__} attribute; the \var{bases} tuple
+  itemizes the base classes and becomes the \member{__bases__}
+  attribute; and the \var{dict} dictionary is the namespace containing
+  definitions for class body and becomes the \member{__dict__}
+  attribute.  For example, the following two statements create
+  identical \class{type} objects:
+
+\begin{verbatim}
+  >>> class X(object):
+  ...     a = 1
+  ...     
+  >>> X = type('X', (object,), dict(a=1))
+\end{verbatim}
+\versionadded{2.2}          
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{unichr}{i}
+  Return the Unicode string of one character whose Unicode code is the
+  integer \var{i}.  For example, \code{unichr(97)} returns the string
+  \code{u'a'}.  This is the inverse of \function{ord()} for Unicode
+  strings.  The valid range for the argument depends how Python was
+  configured -- it may be either UCS2 [0..0xFFFF] or UCS4 [0..0x10FFFF].
+  \exception{ValueError} is raised otherwise.
+  \versionadded{2.0}
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{unicode}{\optional{object\optional{, encoding
+				    \optional{, errors}}}}
+  Return the Unicode string version of \var{object} using one of the
+  following modes:
+
+  If \var{encoding} and/or \var{errors} are given, \code{unicode()}
+  will decode the object which can either be an 8-bit string or a
+  character buffer using the codec for \var{encoding}. The
+  \var{encoding} parameter is a string giving the name of an encoding;
+  if the encoding is not known, \exception{LookupError} is raised.
+  Error handling is done according to \var{errors}; this specifies the
+  treatment of characters which are invalid in the input encoding.  If
+  \var{errors} is \code{'strict'} (the default), a
+  \exception{ValueError} is raised on errors, while a value of
+  \code{'ignore'} causes errors to be silently ignored, and a value of
+  \code{'replace'} causes the official Unicode replacement character,
+  \code{U+FFFD}, to be used to replace input characters which cannot
+  be decoded.  See also the \refmodule{codecs} module.
+
+  If no optional parameters are given, \code{unicode()} will mimic the
+  behaviour of \code{str()} except that it returns Unicode strings
+  instead of 8-bit strings. More precisely, if \var{object} is a
+  Unicode string or subclass it will return that Unicode string without
+  any additional decoding applied.
+
+  For objects which provide a \method{__unicode__()} method, it will
+  call this method without arguments to create a Unicode string. For
+  all other objects, the 8-bit string version or representation is
+  requested and then converted to a Unicode string using the codec for
+  the default encoding in \code{'strict'} mode.
+
+  \versionadded{2.0}
+  \versionchanged[Support for \method{__unicode__()} added]{2.2}
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{vars}{\optional{object}}
+  Without arguments, return a dictionary corresponding to the current
+  local symbol table.  With a module, class or class instance object
+  as argument (or anything else that has a \member{__dict__}
+  attribute), returns a dictionary corresponding to the object's
+  symbol table.  The returned dictionary should not be modified: the
+  effects on the corresponding symbol table are undefined.\footnote{
+    In the current implementation, local variable bindings cannot
+    normally be affected this way, but variables retrieved from
+    other scopes (such as modules) can be.  This may change.}
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{xrange}{\optional{start,} stop\optional{, step}}
+  This function is very similar to \function{range()}, but returns an
+  ``xrange object'' instead of a list.  This is an opaque sequence
+  type which yields the same values as the corresponding list, without
+  actually storing them all simultaneously.  The advantage of
+  \function{xrange()} over \function{range()} is minimal (since
+  \function{xrange()} still has to create the values when asked for
+  them) except when a very large range is used on a memory-starved
+  machine or when all of the range's elements are never used (such as
+  when the loop is usually terminated with \keyword{break}).
+
+  \note{\function{xrange()} is intended to be simple and fast.
+        Implementations may impose restrictions to achieve this.
+        The C implementation of Python restricts all arguments to
+        native C longs ("short" Python integers), and also requires
+        that the number of elements fit in a native C long.}
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{zip}{\optional{iterable, \moreargs}}
+  This function returns a list of tuples, where the \var{i}-th tuple contains
+  the \var{i}-th element from each of the argument sequences or iterables.
+  The returned list is truncated in length to the length of
+  the shortest argument sequence.  When there are multiple arguments
+  which are all of the same length, \function{zip()} is
+  similar to \function{map()} with an initial argument of \code{None}.
+  With a single sequence argument, it returns a list of 1-tuples.
+  With no arguments, it returns an empty list.
+  \versionadded{2.0}
+
+  \versionchanged[Formerly, \function{zip()} required at least one argument
+  and \code{zip()} raised a \exception{TypeError} instead of returning
+  an empty list]{2.4}
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+
+% ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+\section{Non-essential Built-in Functions \label{non-essential-built-in-funcs}}
+
+There are several built-in functions that are no longer essential to learn,
+know or use in modern Python programming.  They have been kept here to
+maintain backwards compatibility with programs written for older versions
+of Python.
+
+Python programmers, trainers, students and bookwriters should feel free to
+bypass these functions without concerns about missing something important.
+
+
+\setindexsubitem{(non-essential built-in functions)}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{apply}{function, args\optional{, keywords}}
+  The \var{function} argument must be a callable object (a
+  user-defined or built-in function or method, or a class object) and
+  the \var{args} argument must be a sequence.  The \var{function} is
+  called with \var{args} as the argument list; the number of arguments
+  is the length of the tuple.
+  If the optional \var{keywords} argument is present, it must be a
+  dictionary whose keys are strings.  It specifies keyword arguments
+  to be added to the end of the argument list.
+  Calling \function{apply()} is different from just calling
+  \code{\var{function}(\var{args})}, since in that case there is always
+  exactly one argument.  The use of \function{apply()} is equivalent
+  to \code{\var{function}(*\var{args}, **\var{keywords})}.
+  Use of \function{apply()} is not necessary since the ``extended call
+  syntax,'' as used in the last example, is completely equivalent.
+
+  \deprecated{2.3}{Use the extended call syntax instead, as described
+                   above.}
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{buffer}{object\optional{, offset\optional{, size}}}
+  The \var{object} argument must be an object that supports the buffer
+  call interface (such as strings, arrays, and buffers).  A new buffer
+  object will be created which references the \var{object} argument.
+  The buffer object will be a slice from the beginning of \var{object}
+  (or from the specified \var{offset}). The slice will extend to the
+  end of \var{object} (or will have a length given by the \var{size}
+  argument).
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{coerce}{x, y}
+  Return a tuple consisting of the two numeric arguments converted to
+  a common type, using the same rules as used by arithmetic
+  operations. If coercion is not possible, raise \exception{TypeError}.
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{intern}{string}
+  Enter \var{string} in the table of ``interned'' strings and return
+  the interned string -- which is \var{string} itself or a copy.
+  Interning strings is useful to gain a little performance on
+  dictionary lookup -- if the keys in a dictionary are interned, and
+  the lookup key is interned, the key comparisons (after hashing) can
+  be done by a pointer compare instead of a string compare.  Normally,
+  the names used in Python programs are automatically interned, and
+  the dictionaries used to hold module, class or instance attributes
+  have interned keys.  \versionchanged[Interned strings are not
+  immortal (like they used to be in Python 2.2 and before);
+  you must keep a reference to the return value of \function{intern()}
+  around to benefit from it]{2.3}
+\end{funcdesc}