Working with Excel Files in Python
from: http://www.python-excel.org/
This site contains pointers to the best information available about working with Excel files in the Python programming language.
The Packages
There are python packages available to work with Excel files that will run on any Python platform and that do not require either Windows or Excel to be used. They are fast, reliable and open source:
openpyxl
The recommended package for reading and writing Excel 2010 files (ie: .xlsx)
Download | Documentation | Bitbucket
xlsxwriter
An alternative package for writing data, formatting information and, in particular, charts in the Excel 2010 format (ie: .xlsx)
Download | Documentation | GitHub
xlrd
This package is for reading data and formatting information from older Excel files (ie: .xls)
Download | Documentation | GitHub
xlwt
This package is for writing data and formatting information to older Excel files (ie: .xls)
Download | Documentation | Examples | GitHub
xlutils
This package collects utilities that require both xlrd and xlwt, including the ability to copy and modify or filter existing excel files.
NB: In general, these use cases are now covered by openpyxl!