In this chapter, we have explored how to create modules and reusable functions that will save scripting time in the future by allowing us to avoid rewriting these useful functions. We further explored the methods available through ArcPy Geometry objects, including the Intersect, Overlaps, and Union methods. We created a spatial analysis that writes no feature classes to disk, making it so that the analysis time is reduced and unnecessary files are avoided. Finally, we explored how to generate Excel spreadsheets using the XLWT module so that analysis results can be shared in industry standard formats.

In the next chapter, we will explore how to use ArcPy to interact with the ArcGIS for desktop extensions such as Network Analyst and Spatial Analyst. By incorporating their functionality within a script, we further increase our ability to create fast and repeatable spatial analysis workflows.