title: Reading/parsing Excel (xls) files with Python
body: <p>What is the best way to read Excel (XLS) files with Python (not <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comma-separated_values" rel="noreferrer">CSV</a> files).</p>
  
  <p>Is there a built-in package which is supported by default in Python to do this task?</p>