Platform Module
===============

.. toctree::
   :maxdepth: 1


Indices and tables
------------------

* :ref:`genindex`
* :ref:`modindex`
* :ref:`search`


Introduction
------------
Sometimes for your module or application to execute correctly, it must learn about the hardware and software it is running on top of and then adjust its behavior appropriately. The :py:mod:`platform` module can assist with obtaining this information.

The :py:mod:`platform` module is comprised only of functions (no constants or classes) which return the desired information. A series of (non-exhaustive) examples will best describe what is available:

.. note:: Some information can be obtained by more than one function.

* Obtain architecture information

  >>> import platform
  >>> platform.architecture()
  ('64bit', 'ELF')
  >>> platform.machine()
  'x86_64'
  >>> platform.processor()
  'x86_64'

* Obtain the hostname:

  >>> platform.node()
  'mike-dt'


* Obtain information about Python:

  >>> platform.python_build()
  ('default', 'Mar 22 2017 12:26:13')

  >>> platform.python_implementation()
  'CPython'

  >>> platform.python_version()
  '3.4.6'

   >>> platform.python_version_tuple()
   ('3', '4', '6')

* Obtain information about the OS:

  >>> platform.release()
  '4.4.103-18.41-default'

  >>> playform.system()
  'Linux'

  >>> platform.version()
  '#1 SMP Wed Dec 13 14:06:33 UTC 2017 (f66c68c)'

  >>> platform.uname()
  uname_result(system='Linux', node='mike-dt', release='4.4.103-18.41-default', version='#1 SMP Wed Dec 13 14:06:33 UTC 2017 (f66c68c)', machine='x86_64', processor='x86_64')

  >>> platform.linux_distribution()
  ('openSUSE ', '42.2', 'x86_64')

  .. tip:: Use :py:func:`platform.win32_ver` and :py:func:`platform.mac_ver` to get information specific to those operating systems.



* Misc information

  >>> platform.java_ver()
  ('', '', ('', '', ''), ('', '', ''))

  >>> platform.libc_ver()
  ('glibc', '2.3.4')