Python System Programming

Clarify the goal first — “system programming” covers two different things. If the aim is kernel‑level work (drivers, kernel modules) you will need Microsoft’s Windows Driver Kit and native C/C++ toolchains; Python is not the right tool for that class of development. If the aim is automating Windows, building services, querying event logs, manipulating the registry or integrating with COM, that is user‑mode work and Python is an excellent choice (as @slate pointed out). See Microsoft’s guidance for driver development and the WDK for kernel work. (learn.microsoft.com)

A practical learning path: get comfortable with Python’s standard library for OS work (os, subprocess, shutil, socket, threading/multiprocessing, winreg) and then learn ctypes so you can call native DLLs / Win32 APIs when there’s no higher‑level wrapper. Start with small automation tasks (spawn processes, manage files, read env vars), then add FFI calls only when needed. The ctypes docs explain calling conventions and safety concerns. (docs.python.org)

Windows‑specific toolset: use the pywin32 extensions for COM, services, event logs and many Win32 integrations; use psutil to inspect processes, services and system metrics; consider the WMI Python wrapper when you need WMI queries. Install via pip inside a virtual environment and test in a VM or isolated machine. Good starter projects: list/monitor processes, query and restart services, read event logs, write a simple Windows service, and read/write registry keys. (github.com)

For a book, Mark Hammond and Andy Robinson’s "Python Programming on Win32" is a classic practical guide for Windows‑focused Python work; combine it with the official docs and small hands‑on projects (avoid running code as admin unless required). @tony75’s videos are a fine supplement — follow them with official docs and the libraries above for depth and safety. (oreilly.com)