Month 5 Reading

The Python documentation is your primary source this month. Read it. Do not skim a tutorial that paraphrases it.

Here is why this matters. The whole point of Month 5 is that you can judge AI-drafted code. You can only judge it against the real reference. The docs are that reference.

Core: the standard library you will use

The standard library is the set of tools that ship with Python, no install needed.

  • docs Python socket module (for Lab 5.1). Opens raw network connections.
  • docs Python argparse module. Builds the command line for every tool.
  • docs Python sqlite3 module (for Lab 5.2). A database in a single file. This is your first SQL.
  • docs Python re module (for Lab 5.2). Regex, the Month 2 skill, now in Python.
  • docs Python hashlib module (for Lab 5.3). Hashes data.
  • docs Python concurrent.futures and asyncio (for Lab 5.1). Two ways to do many things at once.
  • docs The requests library (for Labs 5.3 and 5.4). Handles HTTP. It is one install away, not built in.

Concepts

  • docs The Have I Been Pwned range API and its k-anonymity model (primary source for Lab 5.3). Read how the prefix trick works before you build it.
  • reference Shannon entropy: any solid explanation of the formula and what it measures. Learn why entropy alone is not enough to judge a password.
  • docs The Apache combined and nginx default log formats (for Lab 5.2). These name every field, in order.
  • docs The DVWA project documentation (for Lab 5.4). How to install and run your own practice target.

On AI use this month

  • required AI-ETHICS.md at the repo root. Re-read it before your first lab. The drafting pattern, the provenance discipline, and the data-handling rule all come from here.

A note on AI-generated code

When AI drafts a function that calls a standard-library method, check that the method is real. Confirm it exists, and that it behaves the way AI claims, against the docs above.

AI invents method names and parameters that sound right but do not exist. This is confident and frequent. The reading list is your defense. The verification ritual is the test of whether you used it.