A simple web server in two (three) steps

server.py

# 
# Source: http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/tech-tip-really-simple-http-server-python
#                                                                                                                                                                         
# Simple server in two steps:                                                                                                                                             
#  - create an index.html file.                                                                                                                                           
#  - run:                                                                                                                                                                 
#       python server.py [<port>]                                                                                                                                         
#  - go to:                                                                                                                                                               
#       http://localhost:<port|8000>/                                                                                                                                          

import sys
import BaseHTTPServer
from SimpleHTTPServer import SimpleHTTPRequestHandler

HandlerClass = SimpleHTTPRequestHandler
ServerClass  = BaseHTTPServer.HTTPServer
Protocol     = "HTTP/1.0"

if sys.argv[1:]:
    port = int(sys.argv[1])
else:
    port = 8000
server_address = ('127.0.0.1', port)

HandlerClass.protocol_version = Protocol
httpd = ServerClass(server_address, HandlerClass)

sa = httpd.socket.getsockname()
print "Serving HTTP on", sa[0], "port", sa[1], "..."
httpd.serve_forever()