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+Use in Python    {#flatbuffers_guide_use_python}
+=============
+
+## Before you get started
+
+Before diving into the FlatBuffers usage in Python, it should be noted that the
+[Tutorial](@ref flatbuffers_guide_tutorial) page has a complete guide to general
+FlatBuffers usage in all of the supported languages (including Python). This
+page is designed to cover the nuances of FlatBuffers usage, specific to
+Python.
+
+You should also have read the [Building](@ref flatbuffers_guide_building)
+documentation to build `flatc` and should be familiar with
+[Using the schema compiler](@ref flatbuffers_guide_using_schema_compiler) and
+[Writing a schema](@ref flatbuffers_guide_writing_schema).
+
+## FlatBuffers Python library code location
+
+The code for the FlatBuffers Python library can be found at
+`flatbuffers/python/flatbuffers`. You can browse the library code on the
+[FlatBuffers GitHub page](https://github.com/google/flatbuffers/tree/master/
+python).
+
+## Testing the FlatBuffers Python library
+
+The code to test the Python library can be found at `flatbuffers/tests`.
+The test code itself is located in [py_test.py](https://github.com/google/
+flatbuffers/blob/master/tests/py_test.py).
+
+To run the tests, use the [PythonTest.sh](https://github.com/google/flatbuffers/
+blob/master/tests/PythonTest.sh) shell script.
+
+*Note: This script requires [python](https://www.python.org/) to be
+installed.*
+
+## Using the FlatBuffers Python library
+
+*Note: See [Tutorial](@ref flatbuffers_guide_tutorial) for a more in-depth
+example of how to use FlatBuffers in Python.*
+
+There is support for both reading and writing FlatBuffers in Python.
+
+To use FlatBuffers in your own code, first generate Python classes from your
+schema with the `--python` option to `flatc`. Then you can include both
+FlatBuffers and the generated code to read or write a FlatBuffer.
+
+For example, here is how you would read a FlatBuffer binary file in Python:
+First, import the library and the generated code. Then read a FlatBuffer binary
+file into a `bytearray`, which you pass to the `GetRootAsMonster` function:
+
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~{.py}
+    import MyGame.Example as example
+    import flatbuffers
+
+    buf = open('monster.dat', 'rb').read()
+    buf = bytearray(buf)
+    monster = example.GetRootAsMonster(buf, 0)
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+Now you can access values like this:
+
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~{.py}
+    hp = monster.Hp()
+    pos = monster.Pos()
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+## Support for Numpy arrays
+
+The Flatbuffers python library also has support for accessing scalar
+vectors as numpy arrays. This can be orders of magnitude faster than
+iterating over the vector one element at a time, and is particularly
+useful when unpacking large nested flatbuffers. The generated code for
+a scalar vector will have a method `<vector name>AsNumpy()`. In the
+case of the Monster example, you could access the inventory vector
+like this:
+
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~{.py}
+    inventory = monster.InventoryAsNumpy()
+    # inventory is a numpy array of type np.dtype('uint8')
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+instead of
+
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~{.py}
+    inventory = []
+    for i in range(monster.InventoryLength()):
+        inventory.append(int(monster.Inventory(i)))
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+Numpy is not a requirement. If numpy is not installed on your system,
+then attempting to access one of the `*asNumpy()` methods will result
+in a `NumpyRequiredForThisFeature` exception.
+
+## Text Parsing
+
+There currently is no support for parsing text (Schema's and JSON) directly
+from Python, though you could use the C++ parser through SWIG or ctypes. Please
+see the C++ documentation for more on text parsing.
+
+<br>