How to read this book
Like ancient Gaul, this book is divided
in three parts. The first part details the installation of
PyQt and of BlackAdder. Then the book takes you through a tour
of the interface of BlackAdder. You might want to read this
part in order. There is also a small chapter that introduces
programming with Python, in case you are not already familiar
with the language.
The second part deals with the concepts
behind Python and PyQt. You don't need to read this part in
order, but the chapters will give you a solid feel for the lay
of the land, and will enable you to find your way in the PyQt
or Qt class documentation (which is copious and excellent).
Also, if you run into inexplicable behavior, you might want to
consult, for instance, the chapter on objects and references.
The order of the chapters doesn't matter a whole lot.
Part three is where the real fun starts.
From humble, but solid, beginnings, we will build, chapter by
chapter, a very real application. This part is probably best
read in order, but there are occasional excursional chapters
that you might want to read before anything else, such as the
chapter on unit testing.
Finally, there are the appendices.
Appendix A is useful if you don't
know anything about C++, but still want to read the C++-based
Qt documentation. The second appendix,
Appendix C, tells you how to wrap your own C++
extension libraries — possibly based on Qt — using
sip, the same tool that is used to create PyQt. Appendix B deals with PyQwt and NumPy, an
extension library for plotting and graphic.