Creating Command Line Tools With Python

The Python standard library has many modules that make creating commandline tools quite simple. Often command line tools are made with pure Python modules, or are a mixture of calls to an operating system and Python, through the subprocess module. Some of the commonly used modules to create commandline tools are: optparse, configparser, and subprocess.

For sysadmins familiar with Bash scripting: Beginner Level, circa 02/2008

• Python for Bash scripters: A well-kept secret

Using Python To Create Unix Commandline Tools: Beginning/Intermediate Level

• Summary: An introductory article on how to create command line tools with Python. A beginner should learn how to create command line tool after finishing.

• Introduction To Creating CLI Tools with Python

Command line tool with optparse, subprocess, and logging: Beginning/Intermediate level

• This script provides shortcuts for using a Git repository but the script could be used as a template for other shell tools: A Clean Python Shell Script.

PyCon2008 Presentation on Command Line Tools: Intermediate Level

• Summary: Presentation goes into detail on using threads, subprocess, optparse, configparser, and ORM's to create sophisticated tools.

• Slides: Creating Command Line Tools with Python

• Source: Code