Re: What Python books to you recommend to beginners?
Songbird, [post ok'd by them] =this time I've remembered to hit ReplyAll. Duh! There are plenty of Python books 'about'. Beyond the 'basics' they tend to become more topical, eg Scientific, Financial, Data Analysis... so what suits you might not me. i'm pretty well read so i can adapt to a lot of subject matters as long as the concepts are geared towards what i'm after. a solid example is a good thing as long as it covers the concepts - the problem i usually have with many examples though is that they are too simplistic to be interesting enough but that's just me being picky. ha... =yes and no (and nothing to do with you, personally). =firstly, various specialist areas do tend towards their own sub-culture. For (trivial) example, data analysis, statistics, and (obviously) pure math guys will tend towards 'algebra', whereas more commercial folk preach the virtues of longer, more meaningful object naming. =secondly, Python has such wide application that there are whole swathes of the PSL which people don't use/don't find relevant. Another trivial example: 'control' applications and file-based data analysis have little use for GUI programming. =However, some flexibility in your skill set is a strong selling-point; so your aim of being "well read" is exactly right (IMHO). Your question is rather broad and open-ended. Do you have access to a decent library? What is available there? Have you looked at the various free books/downloads and YouTube subscriptions? Happy reading! i do have access to a library and it is connected to the rest of the state and country if i can't get any of the mentioned items within the network. though i much prefer an electronic copy because the amount of time it may take me to get through a longer text. =conversely, I prefer the written (?printed) word for non-fiction and reserve eBooks almost entirely for fiction. At first I put that down to being a grumpy, old man - we who grew up with books can re-locate material by remembering roughly how far 'down' the book, whether on the left or right sheet, and perhaps even its proximity to a certain diagram/picture. Presumably eBook users (from birth) develop similar, yet quite different strategies. In a somewhat ironic twist, recent research suggests that even the 'digerati' are finding similarly, and asking for 'dead trees' over 'electrons'. So, what would I know? =Like you, I am blessed with a library system that regards all of its libraries as holding a common (and most importantly, user-searchable) book stock (for free). There is also a nation-wide library inter-loan system (payable). Then there is access to universities' libraries, although most would only have borrowing rights at one (involves travel in my case). So, when tackling a new topic, I order one or two books, then when they arrive, one or two more - thus the later 'latency' period is absorbed by my devouring the first set! (and my aberrant greed not too obvious - I hope) However, the library idea would work so much better if everyone else just left-alone all the books I want, when I want them... =Another thought: it's not a "book" but some/most enjoy Raymond Hettinger's talks, available from various PyCon sites/YouTube. He specialises in showing the smart techniques that I think you seek/will enjoy learning. =Similarly, in following the various python.org mailing lists I note when/where various PyCons will be held around the world - especially those too distant to attend. Afterwards I look to see if they've recorded the talks. It's a good way for me to become aware of new developments in Python itself, and to see the myriad applications and (pertinent to your enquiry) the techniques folk use to accomplish such ends. PS becoming involved in a local PyCon or PUG is a good way to pick-up ideas and make contact with folk who have said ideas! -- Regards =dn -- https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: What Python books to you recommend to beginners?
A person wrote via e-mail: > songbird wrote: >> Dennis Lee Bieber wrote: ... [post ok'd by them] > >my goal in learning python was to use it as a way of > > picking up OOP concepts in a more concrete way (theory > > alone doesn't give me enough hands on the bits i need so > > i tend to just do other things instead). > > > >now that i've used python for a starting project and > > have that project mostly working i want to step back and > > work on the OOP aspects. > A Scandinavian company put out a good series (I think by Lean Publishing). > The first is "The Python Apprentice", the next is "The Python Journeyman", > and presumably there is a third that I have yet to see, ie 'Master'. > > Perhaps "Clean Code in Python", Packt - doesn't match everyone's style. will take a look for things and see what i can find. so i'll put these on the list. > Python's 'batteries included' is exemplified by the Python Standard Library. > Doug Hellman used to blog a 'Python Module of the Week' (see > https://pymotw.com/3/) which you might review. He has also published a book > on the PSL through O'Reilly. ok, thanks. :) > To some extent you may be talking about Design Patterns. Unfortunately, this > area is terribly confused by certain authors taking concepts from other > languages, eg Java, and trying to find a Python equivalent. This is a > grossly non-Pythonic approach. So, I'll join a previous correspondent by > recommending you stay away from anything 'tainted' by Java-think. i would agree with that anyways... > There are plenty of Python books 'about'. Beyond the 'basics' they tend to > become more topical, eg Scientific, Financial, Data Analysis... so what > suits you might not me. i'm pretty well read so i can adapt to a lot of subject matters as long as the concepts are geared towards what i'm after. a solid example is a good thing as long as it covers the concepts - the problem i usually have with many examples though is that they are too simplistic to be interesting enough but that's just me being picky. ha... > Your question is rather broad and open-ended. Do you have access to a decent > library? What is available there? Have you looked at the various free > books/downloads and YouTube subscriptions? Happy reading! i do have access to a library and it is connected to the rest of the state and country if i can't get any of the mentioned items within the network. though i much prefer an electronic copy because the amount of time it may take me to get through a longer text. songbird -- https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: What Python books to you recommend to beginners?
boB Stepp wrote: ... > You might want to look at "Python 3 -- Object Oriented Programming" by > Dusty Phillips. It is copyright 2010, so it won't have the latest, > greatest Python 3 features, but the book's entire focus is teaching > OOP in a Python 3 context. thanks, i'll put it on the list to seek. songbird -- https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: What Python books to you recommend to beginners?
On Sun, Dec 2, 2018 at 1:51 PM songbird wrote: > my goal in learning python was to use it as a way of > picking up OOP concepts in a more concrete way (theory > alone doesn't give me enough hands on the bits i need so > i tend to just do other things instead). > > now that i've used python for a starting project and > have that project mostly working i want to step back and > work on the OOP aspects. You might want to look at "Python 3 -- Object Oriented Programming" by Dusty Phillips. It is copyright 2010, so it won't have the latest, greatest Python 3 features, but the book's entire focus is teaching OOP in a Python 3 context. -- boB -- https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: What Python books to you recommend to beginners?
Dennis Lee Bieber wrote: > On Sun, 2 Dec 2018 12:40:44 -0500, songbird > declaimed the following: > >> as references those are useful, but howabout >>something a bit more conceptual or design oriented? >> > > At that level, you are not looking for "Python" books but rather > software engineering texts -- which should provide concepts you then map > into the language being used. ... but i am... ... > has OOP features -- you don't have to code your own dispatching logic. The > current favored notation for OOAD modeling is UML, so a book on UML might > be useful: > > Beginning UML 2.0 (O'Reilly) > UML Distilled (Addison-Wesley) > Using UML (Addison-Wesley) > > These are somewhat old and may have newer texts available. It's been > some 5+ years since I bought any books of this class; my more recent books > have been microprocessor subjects (Arduino, R-Pi, Beaglebone, PIC and ARM > Cortex M-series) ... thanks, i'll look at UML, not sure i want to learn yet another language on top of python. my goal in learning python was to use it as a way of picking up OOP concepts in a more concrete way (theory alone doesn't give me enough hands on the bits i need so i tend to just do other things instead). now that i've used python for a starting project and have that project mostly working i want to step back and work on the OOP aspects. songbird -- https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: What Python books to you recommend to beginners?
Stefan Ram wrote: ... thank you. :) as references those are useful, but howabout something a bit more conceptual or design oriented? i have a pretty good idea about various language features or things to try, but i need a little more higher level view of how to go about building a python program. i can hack stuff together and it works, but it doesn't look pretty... :) songbird -- https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: What Python books to you recommend to beginners?
Python for Data Analysis is a great choice for sure. I think Think Python <http://greenteapress.com/thinkpython/html/index.html>, by Allen Downey is also a great alternative for beginners. I've written a short piece with 3 free books to get started: https://blog.rmotr.com/the-3-python-books-you-need-to-get-started-for-free-9b72a2c6fb17 On Wed, Nov 28, 2018 at 12:51 PM Brian Oney via Python-list < python-list@python.org> wrote: > On Wed, 2018-11-28 at 08:44 -0600, Skip Montanaro wrote: > > What do people recommend? The target is Python 3.6 and 3.7. The > > audience at work is a mostly financial/statistical crowd, so exposure > > to things like Pandas would be nice, though I'm sure there are > > dedicated books for just that. > > Given your audience "Python for Data Analysis, 2nd Edition" by Wes > McKinney would suit well. The Python tutorial should suit for basic > syntax. > > HTH > -- > https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list > -- Santiago Basulto.- Co-founder @ rmotr.com -- https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: What Python books to you recommend to beginners?
On Wed, 2018-11-28 at 08:44 -0600, Skip Montanaro wrote: > What do people recommend? The target is Python 3.6 and 3.7. The > audience at work is a mostly financial/statistical crowd, so exposure > to things like Pandas would be nice, though I'm sure there are > dedicated books for just that. Given your audience "Python for Data Analysis, 2nd Edition" by Wes McKinney would suit well. The Python tutorial should suit for basic syntax. HTH -- https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
What Python books to you recommend to beginners?
I've been using Python since long before Mark Lutz's book was first released, so I've never paid much attention to what's out there. Still, every now and then, someone asks me for a recommendation (as just happened a few minutes ago). "Learning Python" was last released in 2013 (Python 3.3), so lacks many newer features of the language. What do people recommend? The target is Python 3.6 and 3.7. The audience at work is a mostly financial/statistical crowd, so exposure to things like Pandas would be nice, though I'm sure there are dedicated books for just that. Thanks, Skip -- https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Useful Python books and Web sites for system administrators
Hi, If anyone has some favorite books or Web sites which explore using Python for various system administration tasks, I'd be interested in hearing about them. I'm primarily interested in resources which focus on Linux, but since I work in a multi-platform environment, pointers to sites which discuss Python scripting in the context of Windows system administration would also be helpful. Thanks, Richard -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Opportunity to author Python books- Packt Publishing.
Hi All, I am writing to you for Packt Publishing, the publishers computer related books. We are planning to extend our catalogue of cookbooks and are currently inviting Python fanatics interested in writing a cookbook. So, if you love Python and are interested in writing a cookbook, please contact us with your book ideas at aut...@packtpub.com. Even if you do not have a book idea and are simply interested in authoring a cookbook, we are keen to hear from you. More details about the opportunity are available at: http://authors.packtpub.com/content/python-fanatics-invited-write-packt Thanks Kshipra Singh Author Relationship Manager Packt Publishing www.PacktPub.com Skype: kshiprasingh15 Twitter: http://twitter.com/kshipras Interested in becoming an author? Visit http://authors.packtpub.com for all the information you need about writing for Packt. -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Opportunity to author Python books- Packt Publishing.
On Mar 8, 2010, at 6:25 AM, Kshipra Singh wrote: I would be delighted to write a cookbook on the stuff I use every day: python for administering cloud servers. Thanks, S aka/Steve Steiner aka/ssteinerX Hi All, I am writing to you for Packt Publishing, the publishers computer related books. We are planning to extend our catalogue of cookbooks and are currently inviting Python fanatics interested in writing a cookbook. So, if you love Python and are interested in writing a cookbook, please contact us with your book ideas ataut...@packtpub.com. Even if you do not have a book idea and are simply interested in authoring a cookbook, we are keen to hear from you. More details about the opportunity are available at: http://authors.packtpub.com/content/python-fanatics-invited-write-packt Thanks Kshipra Singh Author Relationship Manager Packt Publishing www.PacktPub.com Skype: kshiprasingh15 Twitter: http://twitter.com/kshipras Interested in becoming an author? Visit http://authors.packtpub.com for all the information you need about writing for Packt. -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Scripting (was Re: Python books, literature etc)
Just to kind of get back on topic: Before buying a book or making a terribly large investment, OP should consider the fact that Python 3 is out and gaining some popularity. -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Scripting (was Re: Python books, literature etc)
Peter vm...@mycircuit.org wrote in message news:mailman.661.1262978839.28905.python-l...@python.org... Sounds good. Regarding the book's title: is it just me, or are Python programmers in general put off when people call it scripting? I won't attempt a strict definition of the term scripting language, but it seems like non-programmers use it to mean less scary than what you might think of as programming, while programmers interpret it as not useful as a general-purpose language. It took me a while to take scripting seriously. I grew up with Pascal and Eiffel and I found it difficult to appreciate dynamic typing and scripting. The author Langtangen is explaining in detail why he considers scripting useful, in particular he provides an automatic test suite to run different language versions ( perl, python, c, c++) of the same program to compare performance. The results are amazing, in that some of the examples run faster than the C++ version. I think if you can get Python to run fast (compared to compiled languages), then that's scripting (ie. just using it to sequence lots of built-in functions and operations). If it runs a lot slower than those other languages, then you're probably doing some programming. And with programs where the runtime is not significant, it could be either... -- Bartc -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Scripting (was Re: Python books, literature etc)
On Thu, 2010-01-07, Peter wrote: [...] depending on your application domain, I liked: 1) Hans Petter Langtangen: Python Scripting for Computational Science A truly excellent book, not only with respect to Python Scripting , but also on how to avoid paying license fees by using opensource tools as an engineer ( plotting, graphing, gui dev etc ). Very good , pratical introduction to Python with careful and non-trivial examples and exercises. Sounds good. Regarding the book's title: is it just me, or are Python programmers in general put off when people call it scripting? I won't attempt a strict definition of the term scripting language, but it seems like non-programmers use it to mean less scary than what you might think of as programming, while programmers interpret it as not useful as a general-purpose language. /Jorgen -- // Jorgen Grahn grahn@ Oo o. . . \X/ snipabacken.se O o . -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Scripting (was Re: Python books, literature etc)
On Fri, Jan 8, 2010 at 09:37, Jorgen Grahn grahn+n...@snipabacken.se wrote: Regarding the book's title: is it just me, or are Python programmers in general put off when people call it scripting? I won't attempt a strict definition of the term scripting language, but it seems like non-programmers use it to mean less scary than what you might think of as programming, while programmers interpret it as not useful as a general-purpose language. I dunno... I consider it programming when I'm writing bash scripts. Same with running python scripts. My personal take on it, so YMMV, is that scripting is just a synonym for programming an interpreted language, as opposed to programming (common parlance) which is usually meant writing code for a compiled language (C, C++, VB, etc...) Then again, I also tend to use scripting, coding and programming interchangeably too. And sometimes scripting = just writing a quick and dirty program to do a small task, programming = writing something much larger for long term use. Either way, I'm not offended by any of those terms as they all involve programming, regardless of whether or not someone actually calls it programming. For another analogy, what do they call Chinese food in China? Food. Cheers Jeff -- Ted Turner - Sports is like a war without the killing. - http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/t/ted_turner.html -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Scripting (was Re: Python books, literature etc)
Jorgen Grahn wrote: On Thu, 2010-01-07, Peter wrote: [...] depending on your application domain, I liked: 1) Hans Petter Langtangen: Python Scripting for Computational Science A truly excellent book, not only with respect to Python Scripting , but also on how to avoid paying license fees by using opensource tools as an engineer ( plotting, graphing, gui dev etc ). Very good , pratical introduction to Python with careful and non-trivial examples and exercises. Sounds good. Regarding the book's title: is it just me, or are Python programmers in general put off when people call it scripting? I won't attempt a strict definition of the term scripting language, but it seems like non-programmers use it to mean less scary than what you might think of as programming, while programmers interpret it as not useful as a general-purpose language. I'd probably say that in scripting, convenience is more important than speed. You don't need to create a project, just put the code into a file and then run it. -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Scripting (was Re: Python books, literature etc)
Sounds good. Regarding the book's title: is it just me, or are Python programmers in general put off when people call it scripting? I won't attempt a strict definition of the term scripting language, but it seems like non-programmers use it to mean less scary than what you might think of as programming, while programmers interpret it as not useful as a general-purpose language. It took me a while to take scripting seriously. I grew up with Pascal and Eiffel and I found it difficult to appreciate dynamic typing and scripting. The author Langtangen is explaining in detail why he considers scripting useful, in particular he provides an automatic test suite to run different language versions ( perl, python, c, c++) of the same program to compare performance. The results are amazing, in that some of the examples run faster than the C++ version. I find Python extremly useful as a general purpose language ( its clearly now my prefered one ) and I find it equally useful to develop toy apps in C++, Haskell and Lisp, just to better appreciate the idea of general purpose. For me, it has turned out that the point is not scripting versus not scripting or static versus dynamic typing but having automatic unittests or not having automatic unittests. My most important module is nose for running unittests the easy way. Peter -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Scripting (was Re: Python books, literature etc)
Jorgen Grahn grahn+n...@snipabacken.se writes: Regarding the book's title: is it just me, or are Python programmers in general put off when people call it scripting? I won't attempt a strict definition of the term scripting language, but it seems like non-programmers use it to mean less scary than what you might think of as programming, while programmers interpret it as not useful as a general-purpose language. For me scripting means something like task automation within a given program or environment, in contrast to wring a stand-alone program. Florian -- http://www.florian-diesch.de/software/easygconf/ -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Python books, literature etc
2010/1/6 J dreadpiratej...@gmail.com: A good point was brought up to me privately, and I agree completely, that the OP should re-state the request with a bit more specifics... Since the OP says he is at least familiar with Python, does he need info on beginner level books that are general purpose, or is he interested in resources that are more specific (e.g. geared toward web programming, mathematical analysis, data modeling, etc) My suggestions were meant just as an example of what I use in the course of learning something at the basic and intermediate level, once it goes beyond that, it's useful to know WHAT you intend to do so you can find the right resources to go in that direction. Just want to make sure I am not misunderstood or anything :-) For what it's worth, I also tend to collect technical books for some reason... My wife is just barely tolerant of my bookshelf full of things on various computer topics, astronomy, photography, radio and antenna theory and so forth ;-) I just let her keep her shoe collection, and we have a quid pro quo. Thanks J for your reply, much appreciated :) Oops, vague OP, my bad. Agreed, Google turns up myriad of topical books, and ESR's guide to smart questions [1] helps set the pace of list culture. I subscribe to various list servers, on one of them we gracefully accept that a question like my OP is looking for opinion on a matter, which I now understand would be a list's sub-culture? Anyways, to rephrase, could someone kindly mention any of their preferred Python books, websites, tutorials etc to help me get to an intermediate/advanced level? Something that would help me add functionality to Ubiquity, say. Have a great day! Stu@ [1] http://catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Python books, literature etc
Stuart Murray-Smith eigh...@gmail.com wrote in news:aadebb9f1001070146n70f5be7bw2e515f9d4afed...@mail.gmail.com: Anyways, to rephrase, could someone kindly mention any of their preferred Python books, websites, tutorials etc to help me get to an intermediate/advanced level? Something that would help me add functionality to Ubiquity, say. Have a look at the Getting Started section of the wiki: http://wiki.python.org/moin/ specially the PythonBooks section -- Gabriel Genellina -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Python books, literature etc
Stuart Murray-Smith eigh...@gmail.com wrote in news:aadebb9f1001070146n70f5be7bw2e515f9d4afed...@mail.gmail.com: Anyways, to rephrase, could someone kindly mention any of their preferred Python books, websites, tutorials etc to help me get to an intermediate/advanced level? Something that would help me add functionality to Ubiquity, say. Have a look at the Getting Started section of the wiki: http://wiki.python.org/moin/ specially the PythonBooks section -- Gabriel Genellina -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Python books, literature etc
Have a look at the Getting Started section of the wiki: http://wiki.python.org/moin/ specially the PythonBooks section Perfect! Exactly what I'm looking for :) Thanks Gabriel! -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Python books, literature etc
On Thu, 2010-01-07, Stuart Murray-Smith wrote: ... [...] ESR's guide to smart questions [1] helps set the pace of list culture. It's good, if you can ignore the These People Are Very Important Hacker Gods, Not Mere Mortals subtext. ... Anyways, to rephrase, could someone kindly mention any of their preferred Python books, websites, tutorials etc to help me get to an intermediate/advanced level? Something that would help me add functionality to Ubiquity, say. I may be alone in this, but Alex Martelli's book (Python in a nutshell?) on Python 2.2 and a bit of 2.3, plus the official documentation, plus this group, is all I think I need. But I had a lot of Unix, C, C++ and Perl experience to help me. /Jorgen -- // Jorgen Grahn grahn@ Oo o. . . \X/ snipabacken.se O o . -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Python books, literature etc
Anyways, to rephrase, could someone kindly mention any of their preferred Python books, websites, tutorials etc to help me get to an intermediate/advanced level? Something that would help me add functionality to Ubiquity, say. I may be alone in this, but Alex Martelli's book (Python in a nutshell?) on Python 2.2 and a bit of 2.3, plus the official documentation, plus this group, is all I think I need. But I had a lot of Unix, C, C++ and Perl experience to help me. /Jorgen I find Alex Martellis Python Cookbook excellent/invaluable and ( and also his Nutshell book mentioned above ) and depending on your application domain, I liked: 1) Hans Petter Langtangen: Python Scripting for Computational Science A truly excellent book, not only with respect to Python Scripting , but also on how to avoid paying license fees by using opensource tools as an engineer ( plotting, graphing, gui dev etc ). Very good , pratical introduction to Python with careful and non-trivial examples and exercises. 2) There is a book at Apress on using Python and matplotlib ( amongst other ) Beginning Python Visualization which is not as comprehensive as reference 1) but useful , especially for beginners who wants to visualize data from an engineers background 3) Programming for the semantic web Oreilly is a very pratical and interesting guide to things like OWL, triplestore, logic, reasoning, data mining and it is amongst the very few books on these topics I have seen that has working code examples 4) Natural language priocessing with Python Oreilly is also a pratical book with lots of working code if you are interested in data mining, text searching and natural language tasks. It is based on a rather large opensource library for natural language processing ( sorry forgot the exact name,but easy to find on the net) All these book make you feel warm and confortable if you have ever tried to do these things in Perl, C++ or Java Peter -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Python books, literature etc
Greetings list I can code in Python (strong beginner), and would like to read more books and/or online resources. Could someone please point out any good books, websites, tutorials etc to help me get to the next level. Your help insight highly appreciated :) Stuart -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Python books, literature etc
Search Google. You'll find it all. Search this list's archives. This kind of thing has been discussed a thousand times. It also wouldn't hurt to brush up on this: http://catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Python books, literature etc
On Wed, Jan 6, 2010 at 09:35, Shawn Milochik sh...@milochik.com wrote: Search Google. You'll find it all. Search this list's archives. This kind of thing has been discussed a thousand times. It also wouldn't hurt to brush up on this: http://catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html Heh... I've seen that link mentioned many many times on some other lists I belong to :) But I agree. HOWEVER, that is a valid question. BUT, the answer is really up to the person asking it. For example, I too am a relative beginner with Python. Luckily I DO have at least an educational background in OOP, and at least a professional background in basic coding (some perl, BASH, etc). So I do tend to rely a lot on google when I run into a snag, THEN if that doesn't work, I come here with specific questions. FWIW, my Google searches always look something like python what I'm searching for and 99% of the time, that gives me the answers I seek. That being said, however, I also am somewhat old school and prefer to have hard copy at hand too. Sometimes, it's just that much more satisfying to have a physical book handy to look things up in. Maybe it's a comfort thing, I don't know... So in that vein, while I can't suggest any specific books, I can say this... right now, I have a copy of O'Reilly's Learning Python that I use as a reference, as well as a much older copy of the Python 2.1 Bible that I picked up almost a decade ago now the first time I messed around with Python. My personal preference, while searching Google and asking on lists like this is quick and invaluable for the real world knowledge that is shared, is to also have A: something along the lines of the Learning Foo books from O'Reilly because they tend to have lengthy explanations that I usually can understand on my own, and B: some sort of Cookbook on the topic at hand. I haven't found a Python cookbook that I like enough to buy yet, but I'm still looking. Those come in handy for simple snippets and examples when doing specific tasks. So yeah, Google and this list are certainly invaluable, but some of us actually like having the heft of a lofty tome to peruse for the answers to the mysteries of the universe. Cheers Jeff -- Charles de Gaulle - The better I get to know men, the more I find myself loving dogs. - http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/c/charles_de_gaulle.html -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Python books, literature etc
A good point was brought up to me privately, and I agree completely, that the OP should re-state the request with a bit more specifics... Since the OP says he is at least familiar with Python, does he need info on beginner level books that are general purpose, or is he interested in resources that are more specific (e.g. geared toward web programming, mathematical analysis, data modeling, etc) My suggestions were meant just as an example of what I use in the course of learning something at the basic and intermediate level, once it goes beyond that, it's useful to know WHAT you intend to do so you can find the right resources to go in that direction. Just want to make sure I am not misunderstood or anything :-) For what it's worth, I also tend to collect technical books for some reason... My wife is just barely tolerant of my bookshelf full of things on various computer topics, astronomy, photography, radio and antenna theory and so forth ;-) I just let her keep her shoe collection, and we have a quid pro quo. Cheers Jeff -- Mike Ditka - If God had wanted man to play soccer, he wouldn't have given us arms. - http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/m/mike_ditka.html -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Advanced Python books?
On May 18, 3:04 pm, kj so...@987jk.com.invalid wrote: I have read a couple of learn Python-type books, and now I'm looking for some more advanced books on Python, something analogous to Effective Java or High-Order Perl. I've only been able to find Advanced Python 3 Programming Techniques, which, as far as I can tell, is only available as a Kindle Book. (Since I won't be buying a Kindle for another few decades, this is not an option for me.) I tried out Dive into Python, because I was told that it was written for people with prior programming experience. It's an OK book, but I don't find that it is much more advanced than pretty much any other learn Python book I've seen. Basically I'm looking for a book that assumes that one has the basics of the language down, and instead focuses on standard problems of software development, such as application architecture and design, prototyping, debugging, profiling and performance-tuning, testing, packaging/distribution, extending/embedding, threading and IPC, persistence, etc., and on various prototypical cases such as command-line utilities, GUI-apps, webapps, database-backed apps, simulations, etc. Granted, it is unlikely that a single book will do justice to all these areas, but these are the topics I'm now interested in, from the perspective of Python. Any suggestions? TIA! -- NOTE: In my address everything before the first period is backwards; and the last period, and everything after it, should be discarded. Hetland's book, Beginning Python has a bunch of projects at the end. It also has a chapter on testing, network programming, extending python, packaging and more. They're not in depth, but they give you a taste. Lutz's Programming Python has some pretty in depth projects using Tkinter. You might find the Python Cookbook helpful or you could just look at ActiveState's cookbook which is what the book was based on: http://code.activestate.com/recipes/langs/python/ - Mike -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Advanced Python books?
kj schrieb: I have read a couple of learn Python-type books, and now I'm looking for some more advanced books on Python, ... Basically I'm looking for a book that assumes that one has the basics of the language down, and instead focuses on standard problems of software development, such as application architecture and design, prototyping, debugging, profiling and performance-tuning, testing, packaging/distribution, extending/embedding, threading and IPC, persistence, etc., and on various prototypical cases such as command-line utilities, GUI-apps, webapps, database-backed apps, simulations, etc. I think there is no such book. Maybe the Python Cookbook comes near. webapps: I use django, other use turbogears, other even different stuff... There are several books about e.g. django. It would be hard to put all the magic of all web apps into one chapter. GUI-apps: You can use tkinter, qt or gtk again it would be hard to put something useable into one chapter. Thomas -- Thomas Guettler, http://www.thomas-guettler.de/ E-Mail: guettli (*) thomas-guettler + de -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Advanced Python books?
I found Core Python Programming to cater to my needs as a Pro book. On Tue, May 19, 2009 at 6:48 PM, Thomas Guettler h...@tbz-pariv.de wrote: kj schrieb: I have read a couple of learn Python-type books, and now I'm looking for some more advanced books on Python, ... Basically I'm looking for a book that assumes that one has the basics of the language down, and instead focuses on standard problems of software development, such as application architecture and design, prototyping, debugging, profiling and performance-tuning, testing, packaging/distribution, extending/embedding, threading and IPC, persistence, etc., and on various prototypical cases such as command-line utilities, GUI-apps, webapps, database-backed apps, simulations, etc. I think there is no such book. Maybe the Python Cookbook comes near. webapps: I use django, other use turbogears, other even different stuff... There are several books about e.g. django. It would be hard to put all the magic of all web apps into one chapter. GUI-apps: You can use tkinter, qt or gtk again it would be hard to put something useable into one chapter. Thomas -- Thomas Guettler, http://www.thomas-guettler.de/ E-Mail: guettli (*) thomas-guettler + de -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list -- http://www.astorandblack.com -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Advanced Python books?
I have read a couple of learn Python-type books, and now I'm looking for some more advanced books on Python, something analogous to Effective Java or High-Order Perl. I've only been able to find Advanced Python 3 Programming Techniques, which, as far as I can tell, is only available as a Kindle Book. (Since I won't be buying a Kindle for another few decades, this is not an option for me.) I tried out Dive into Python, because I was told that it was written for people with prior programming experience. It's an OK book, but I don't find that it is much more advanced than pretty much any other learn Python book I've seen. Basically I'm looking for a book that assumes that one has the basics of the language down, and instead focuses on standard problems of software development, such as application architecture and design, prototyping, debugging, profiling and performance-tuning, testing, packaging/distribution, extending/embedding, threading and IPC, persistence, etc., and on various prototypical cases such as command-line utilities, GUI-apps, webapps, database-backed apps, simulations, etc. Granted, it is unlikely that a single book will do justice to all these areas, but these are the topics I'm now interested in, from the perspective of Python. Any suggestions? TIA! -- NOTE: In my address everything before the first period is backwards; and the last period, and everything after it, should be discarded. -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Advanced Python books?
You might try Expert Python Programming by Tarek Ziadé. It is a relatively recent book aimed at experts. There are several reviews of the book linked to from a href=http://www.awaretek.com/ book.htmlthis page/a. Ron On May 18, 1:04 pm, kj so...@987jk.com.invalid wrote: I have read a couple of learn Python-type books, and now I'm looking for some more advanced books on Python, something analogous to Effective Java or High-Order Perl. I've only been able to find Advanced Python 3 Programming Techniques, which, as far as I can tell, is only available as a Kindle Book. (Since I won't be buying a Kindle for another few decades, this is not an option for me.) I tried out Dive into Python, because I was told that it was written for people with prior programming experience. It's an OK book, but I don't find that it is much more advanced than pretty much any other learn Python book I've seen. Basically I'm looking for a book that assumes that one has the basics of the language down, and instead focuses on standard problems of software development, such as application architecture and design, prototyping, debugging, profiling and performance-tuning, testing, packaging/distribution, extending/embedding, threading and IPC, persistence, etc., and on various prototypical cases such as command-line utilities, GUI-apps, webapps, database-backed apps, simulations, etc. Granted, it is unlikely that a single book will do justice to all these areas, but these are the topics I'm now interested in, from the perspective of Python. Any suggestions? TIA! -- NOTE: In my address everything before the first period is backwards; and the last period, and everything after it, should be discarded. -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Advanced Python books?
Take a look at Text Processing In Python by David Mertz. This book doesn't cover all your requirements, but its a well-written book that is more comprehensive than its title might indicate. There's also a free version of this book online. Malcolm -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Great Python books for the beginner
On Sat, 12 Jan 2008 01:03:42 -0600, Landon [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hi, I'm a freshman in college and I'm going to be taking an intro to programming course next semester which mainly uses Python, so I thought it might be a good time to pick up Python beyond the scope of the class as well. The text book for this class is Python for the Absolute Beginner or something similar to that name. I was wondering if anyone had any opinions on what other titles I could look into since this one seems from a glance at reviews to be teaching mainly through game programming (a topic I'm not too interested in) or if this one is a quality book by itself. I like Alex Martelli's book, published by O'Reilly a few years ago (I forget its name). It is not too thick -- books which are too thick to stay open are useless IMHO -- and it's not a beginner programmer's book. (You'll have a text book, so it will teach programming in general and simple Python programming, right?) /Jorgen -- // Jorgen Grahn grahn@Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu \X/ snipabacken.se R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn! -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Great Python books for the beginner
On Sat, 12 Jan 2008 13:12:19 -0800 (PST), [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On 12 jan, 21:04, Landon [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: One thing I wonder about is the examples these books use to teach the concepts. I found myself really attached to KR because the end of section projects were utilities that I would find be able to find useful in day to day work such as a version of wc and a program that would take collapse all consecutive whitespace in a document into one space. I could just use the projects from KR, but I imagine a Python book would have a better selection that highlight Python's abilities. It wouldn't make any sens to port the KR stuff to Python - different languages, different uses, different problems... I mean, C is a low- level language, mostly useful for low-level system programming, while Python is a very high level language mostly useful for application programming and QD scripting. I tend to ignore exercises, sadly, but back in the days before Perl, and on Unix, it was useful to write small utilities like that in C. Maybe the KR exercises reflect that. (And the 'K' in KR became the 'k' in awk, so these people were clearly very interested in this application area -- and interested in easier ways to do it than by C programming.) Unix bigot mode: it seems to me to be harder and more tedious to learn programming in a GUI environment like Windows. On Unix small home-grown filter-like programs are useful: you have a good shell to run them in, and you have a wealth of other utilities to connect them to via pipes. /Jorgen -- // Jorgen Grahn grahn@Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu \X/ snipabacken.se R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn! -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Great Python books for the beginner
On Jan 12, 9:03 am, Landon [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hi, I'm a freshman in college and I'm going to be taking an intro to programming course next semester which mainly uses Python, so I thought it might be a good time to pick up Python beyond the scope of the class as well. The text book for this class is Python for the Absolute Beginner or something similar to that name. I was wondering if anyone had any opinions on what other titles I could look into since this one seems from a glance at reviews to be teaching mainly through game programming (a topic I'm not too interested in) or if this one is a quality book by itself. I found CORE PYTHON PROGRAMMING by Wesley Chun to be a great book with help on both novice and advanced topics. http://starship.python.net/crew/wesc/cpp/ The tuts and library reference on www.python.org are also really well written and layed out and you will find yourself frequenting them. -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Great Python books for the beginner
In article [EMAIL PROTECTED], GeneralCody [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On 2008-01-12 08:03:42 +0100, Landon [EMAIL PROTECTED] said: Hi, I'm a freshman in college and I'm going to be taking an intro to programming course next semester which mainly uses Python, so I thought it might be a good time to pick up Python beyond the scope of the class as well. The text book for this class is Python for the Absolute Beginner or something similar to that name. I was wondering if anyone had any opinions on what other titles I could look into since this one seems from a glance at reviews to be teaching mainly through game programming (a topic I'm not too interested in) or if this one is a quality book by itself. I would definetly go for Learning Python first, maybe Apress Python, from novice to Professional as well... Second those suggestions. Both are excellent books for the novice with details more experienced pythonistas can use. Although it is an excellent book, stay away from the Python Cookbook for now. Appreciating it requires a good working knowledge first. If you do get Learning Python, make sure its the 3rd edition that just became available. It covers the current 2.5 release. -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Great Python books for the beginner
Look at http://www.python.org/doc/ . The tutorial is quite good. Jim -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Great Python books for the beginner
Landon [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: I was wondering if anyone had any opinions on what other titles I could look into since this one seems from a glance at reviews to be teaching mainly through game programming (a topic I'm not too interested in) or if this one is a quality book by itself. The book Learning Python is currently proving very useful to an associate of mine. I'm watching his knowledge of Python grow substantially every week, from what was an essentially zero start. Learning Python, 3rd Edition Mark Lutz O'Reilly URL:http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9780596513986/ Looking through the text, it is very well structured, thoroughly teaching all the fundamentals of the language and types and idioms while referring back to already-learned material. The author makes a living training people in Python, and the third edition has benefited from his many years of experience finding effective ways to teach the language. -- \ If you ever teach a yodeling class, probably the hardest thing | `\ is to keep the students from just trying to yodel right off. | _o__) You see, we build to that. -- Jack Handey | Ben Finney -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Great Python books for the beginner
On Jan 12, 2:03 am, Landon [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hi, I'm a freshman in college and I'm going to be taking an intro to programming course next semester which mainly uses Python, so I thought it might be a good time to pick up Python beyond the scope of the class as well. The text book for this class is Python for the Absolute Beginner or something similar to that name. I was wondering if anyone had any opinions on what other titles I could look into since this one seems from a glance at reviews to be teaching mainly through game programming (a topic I'm not too interested in) or if this one is a quality book by itself. Hi Landon, I've found the O'reilly books to be useful I have the Python Pocket reference, which is helpful for me to remember the parameters surrounding commands and all that. I've been known to peruse the Learning Python book by the same publisher and I really like Programming Python (though it is thoroughly hefty and runs about $60USD) But http://www.python.org has excellent documentation and if I may put a word in for http://www.pygame.org to check out if you would be at all interested in starting game programming. -Sween -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Great Python books for the beginner
On Jan 12, 7:47 am, Ben Finney [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Landon [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: I was wondering if anyone had any opinions on what other titles I could look into since this one seems from a glance at reviews to be teaching mainly through game programming (a topic I'm not too interested in) or if this one is a quality book by itself. The book Learning Python is currently proving very useful to an associate of mine. I'm watching his knowledge of Python grow substantially every week, from what was an essentially zero start. Learning Python, 3rd Edition Mark Lutz O'Reilly URL:http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9780596513986/ Looking through the text, it is very well structured, thoroughly teaching all the fundamentals of the language and types and idioms while referring back to already-learned material. The author makes a living training people in Python, and the third edition has benefited from his many years of experience finding effective ways to teach the language. -- \ If you ever teach a yodeling class, probably the hardest thing | `\ is to keep the students from just trying to yodel right off. | _o__) You see, we build to that. -- Jack Handey | Ben Finney I would recommend Lutz's other book, the wonderful Python tome Programming Python 3rd Ed. as well. It's good for getting into the deepest part of Python's jungle. Mike -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Great Python books for the beginner
On Jan 12, 2:03 am, Landon [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I was wondering if anyone had any opinions on what other titles I could look into since this one seems from a glance at reviews to be teaching mainly through game programming (a topic I'm not too interested in) or if this one is a quality book by itself. http://www.diveintopython.org/ -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Great Python books for the beginner
On 2008-01-12 08:03:42 +0100, Landon [EMAIL PROTECTED] said: Hi, I'm a freshman in college and I'm going to be taking an intro to programming course next semester which mainly uses Python, so I thought it might be a good time to pick up Python beyond the scope of the class as well. The text book for this class is Python for the Absolute Beginner or something similar to that name. I was wondering if anyone had any opinions on what other titles I could look into since this one seems from a glance at reviews to be teaching mainly through game programming (a topic I'm not too interested in) or if this one is a quality book by itself. I would definetly go for Learning Python first, maybe Apress Python, from novice to Professional as well... -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Great Python books for the beginner
One thing I wonder about is the examples these books use to teach the concepts. I found myself really attached to KR because the end of section projects were utilities that I would find be able to find useful in day to day work such as a version of wc and a program that would take collapse all consecutive whitespace in a document into one space. I could just use the projects from KR, but I imagine a Python book would have a better selection that highlight Python's abilities. On another note, I would prefer to have a paper book so I don't have to keep switching back and forth between documents on my computer. -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Great Python books for the beginner
On Jan 12, 4:04 pm, Landon [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: One thing I wonder about is the examples these books use to teach the concepts. I found myself really attached to KR because the end of section projects were utilities that I would find be able to find useful in day to day work such as a version of wc and a program that would take collapse all consecutive whitespace in a document into one space. I could just use the projects from KR, but I imagine a Python book would have a better selection that highlight Python's abilities. On another note, I would prefer to have a paper book so I don't have to keep switching back and forth between documents on my computer. You don't need to switch back and forth ... if you use Crunchy! http://code.google.com/p/crunchy To see it in action, http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=143fromSeriesID=143 (the third video in that series shows how to quickly get started using the official Python tutorial). André -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Great Python books for the beginner
On 12 jan, 21:04, Landon [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: One thing I wonder about is the examples these books use to teach the concepts. I found myself really attached to KR because the end of section projects were utilities that I would find be able to find useful in day to day work such as a version of wc and a program that would take collapse all consecutive whitespace in a document into one space. I could just use the projects from KR, but I imagine a Python book would have a better selection that highlight Python's abilities. It wouldn't make any sens to port the KR stuff to Python - different languages, different uses, different problems... I mean, C is a low- level language, mostly useful for low-level system programming, while Python is a very high level language mostly useful for application programming and QD scripting. So the applicative examples from KR are such no-brainers in Python they wouldn't teach you much, and the more low-level examples (memory handling etc) just don't make sens in Python because that's definitively not something you'd write in Python. But anyway: if you're looking for more real-life-like examples, Mark Lutz's Programming Python might be worth a look. -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Great Python books for the beginner
At 11:03 PM 1/11/2008, Landon wrote: Hi, I'm a freshman in college and I'm going to be taking an intro to programming course next semester which mainly uses Python, so I thought it might be a good time to pick up Python beyond the scope of the class as well. The text book for this class is Python for the Absolute Beginner or something similar to that name. I was wondering if anyone had any opinions on what other titles I could look into since this one seems from a glance at reviews to be teaching mainly through game programming (a topic I'm not too interested in) or if this one is a quality book by itself. Yes, it's a quality book, IMO. I hope by now you've gotten over your dislike for online tutorials. Please take a look at these 3: Hands-On Python http://www.cs.luc.edu/~anh/python/hands-on/ How to Think Like a (Python) Programmer http://www.greenteapress.com/thinkpython/ Alan Gauld's Learning to Program (heavy emphasis on Python) http://www.freenetpages.co.uk/hp/alan.gauld Also, do take advantage of the VERY helpful Tutor mailing list. http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor. Dick Moores -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Great Python books for the beginner
Hi, I'm a freshman in college and I'm going to be taking an intro to programming course next semester which mainly uses Python, so I thought it might be a good time to pick up Python beyond the scope of the class as well. The text book for this class is Python for the Absolute Beginner or something similar to that name. I was wondering if anyone had any opinions on what other titles I could look into since this one seems from a glance at reviews to be teaching mainly through game programming (a topic I'm not too interested in) or if this one is a quality book by itself. -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Really badly structured Python Books.
On Apr 14, 11:37 am, Andre P.S Duarte [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I started reading the beginning Python book. It is intended for people who are starting out in the Python world. But it is really complicated, because he tries to explain, then after a bad explanation he puts out a bad example. I really recommend NOT reading the book. For it will make you want not to continue in Python. This is just me letting the air out of my lungs. No need to reply this is just a recommendation. Txs for the opportunity . I went ahead and didn't read the book, and I can feel the improvement already! -Mikw -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Really badly structured Python Books.
On Apr 14, 2:37 pm, Andre P.S Duarte [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I started reading the beginning Python book. It is intended for people who are starting out in the Python world. But it is really complicated, because he tries to explain, then after a bad explanation he puts out a bad example. I really recommend NOT reading the book. For it will make you want not to continue in Python. This is just me letting the air out of my lungs. No need to reply this is just a recommendation. Txs for the opportunity . My experience with technical books of all types is that often you'll find some that don't work for you at all, while they'll be great for other people. If it is the Apress volume you're talking of, I quite like it because its more practical than the Learning Python book from o'reilly. Although the one I preferred the most was the online text of Dive into Python; http://diveintopython.org/. I can see where you're coming from though. -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Really badly structured Python Books.
I started reading the beginning Python book. It is intended for people who are starting out in the Python world. But it is really complicated, because he tries to explain, then after a bad explanation he puts out a bad example. I really recommend NOT reading the book. For it will make you want not to continue in Python. This is just me letting the air out of my lungs. No need to reply this is just a recommendation. Txs for the opportunity . -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Really badly structured Python Books.
On Apr 14, 12:37 pm, Andre P.S Duarte [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I started reading the beginning Python book. It is intended for people who are starting out in the Python world. But it is really complicated, because he tries to explain, then after a bad explanation he puts out a bad example. I really recommend NOT reading the book. For it will make you want not to continue in Python. This is just me letting the air out of my lungs. No need to reply this is just a recommendation. Txs for the opportunity . There are several beginning python books. You might want to be a little more explicit about the book you are talking about. What is the title? -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Really badly structured Python Books.
7stud wrote: On Apr 14, 12:37 pm, Andre P.S Duarte [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I started reading the beginning Python book. It is intended for people who are starting out in the Python world. But it is really complicated, because he tries to explain, then after a bad explanation he puts out a bad example. I really recommend NOT reading the book. For it will make you want not to continue in Python. This is just me letting the air out of my lungs. No need to reply this is just a recommendation. Txs for the opportunity . There are several beginning python books. You might want to be a little more explicit about the book you are talking about. What is the title? I think he means the Apress book _Beginning_Python_. Funny, though, that it gets such good reviews on Amazon. Not every book is meant for every student. James -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Python books?
Alex Martelli wrote: BartlebyScrivener [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On Mar 14, 3:50 pm, [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Aahz) wrote: Some people prefer shorter books -- Python for Dummies (for new programmers) and Python in a Nutshell (for experienced programmers) both try to give a thorough survey of Python while keeping the book easy to carry. Not for me to comment about my own books, but I can second your recommendation for your for Dummies for beginners. And other people like lots of examples and code organized around practical projects a person might like to accomplish using Python. The Python Cookbook 2nd edition is great for this, and Martelli et al are great writers, as well as great programmers. If you like _substantial_ examples, rather than the simple/short ones typically used in manageable-sized books, Hetland's Practical Python was also a great buy (I believe it's now been replaced by Beginning Python by the same author, but unfortunately I haven't seen that one). In general I dislike books that try to teach a language (or other technology) via substantial examples, because the issues with the examples may obscure those with the language or technology; e.g., Stroustrup tries that route in The C++ Programming Language, as Lutz does in Programming Python, and to my taste the results are inferior. However, at least in Practical Python (can't speak for Beginning Python), Hetland managed to pull it off -- perhaps by placing the substantial programs he develops as successive examples in a clever sequence, so that at each step he's not dealing with many diverse new issues but just manageably few of them. Alex I'll vouch for Beginning Python This was my first Python book, and it taught me everything I needed to get started. I still refer to it from time to time. After I graduated from that, I started reading Python Network Programming, the next book in that Apress series. Paul -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Python books?
On Mar 15, 2:38 am, [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Alex Martelli) wrote: BartlebyScrivener [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On Mar 14, 3:50 pm, [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Aahz) wrote: Some people prefer shorter books -- Python for Dummies (for new programmers) and Python in a Nutshell (for experienced programmers) both try to give a thorough survey of Python while keeping the book easy to carry. Not for me to comment about my own books, but I can second your recommendation for your for Dummies for beginners. Python in a Nutshell is a favourite of mine; highly recommended. (However, I do not have the newer version ... yet!) And other people like lots of examples and code organized around practical projects a person might like to accomplish using Python. The Python Cookbook 2nd edition is great for this, and Martelli et al are great writers, as well as great programmers. So is the Python Cookbook (i.e. highly recommended). If you like _substantial_ examples, rather than the simple/short ones typically used in manageable-sized books, Hetland's Practical Python was also a great buy (I believe it's now been replaced by Beginning Python by the same author, but unfortunately I haven't seen that one). I have both; Beginning Python (From Novice to Professional) is a huge improvement over Practical Python and is my number one recommendation for a book to read from cover to cover. (For absolute beginners, there is a book by Dawson which might be better). However, Beginning Python covers Python 2.5 which doesn'te quite fit the requirement of the original poster. Nonetheless, on the grand scheme of things, there are so few differences between 2.5 and 2.5 that it should not matter. I haven't look at Python for Dummies so I can't comment and compare with other books. André In general I dislike books that try to teach a language (or other technology) via substantial examples, because the issues with the examples may obscure those with the language or technology; e.g., Stroustrup tries that route in The C++ Programming Language, as Lutz does in Programming Python, and to my taste the results are inferior. However, at least in Practical Python (can't speak for Beginning Python), Hetland managed to pull it off -- perhaps by placing the substantial programs he develops as successive examples in a clever sequence, so that at each step he's not dealing with many diverse new issues but just manageably few of them. Alex -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Python books?
In article [EMAIL PROTECTED], Tommy Nordgren [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I've found one interesting text book on Python: Mark Lutz - Programming Python, 3rd Edition. How do you rate it? One of the reasons I find it interesting is because of it's hefty page count - over 1500 pages. Some people prefer shorter books -- Python for Dummies (for new programmers) and Python in a Nutshell (for experienced programmers) both try to give a thorough survey of Python while keeping the book easy to carry. -- Aahz ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) * http://www.pythoncraft.com/ I disrespectfully agree. --SJM -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Python books?
On Mar 14, 3:50 pm, [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Aahz) wrote: Some people prefer shorter books -- Python for Dummies (for new programmers) and Python in a Nutshell (for experienced programmers) both try to give a thorough survey of Python while keeping the book easy to carry. And other people like lots of examples and code organized around practical projects a person might like to accomplish using Python. The Python Cookbook 2nd edition is great for this, and Martelli et al are great writers, as well as great programmers. rd -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Python books?
wesley chun wrote: my book, Core Python Programming, is revised to 2.5, but focuses on teaching you the core part of the language, features, objects, memory management, development, good practices, some advanced topic coverage, and presents lots of exercises. however, it is not an exhaustive guide to the standard library. Sadly, the centerfolds were 'shopped and had bottle-bleached hair. Wait, that was a different read. CPP has been invaluable for me and I'd recommend it for the OP even though it's not dedicated solely to the PSL. OK? Jim -- It's not pretexting, it's lying. -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Python books?
The Python Cookbook is still relevant, and is excellent. I have used it to improve the quality of my solutions to several complex problems. It helps to explain many of the more advanced tricks to Python development. -T -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Python books?
BartlebyScrivener [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On Mar 14, 3:50 pm, [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Aahz) wrote: Some people prefer shorter books -- Python for Dummies (for new programmers) and Python in a Nutshell (for experienced programmers) both try to give a thorough survey of Python while keeping the book easy to carry. Not for me to comment about my own books, but I can second your recommendation for your for Dummies for beginners. And other people like lots of examples and code organized around practical projects a person might like to accomplish using Python. The Python Cookbook 2nd edition is great for this, and Martelli et al are great writers, as well as great programmers. If you like _substantial_ examples, rather than the simple/short ones typically used in manageable-sized books, Hetland's Practical Python was also a great buy (I believe it's now been replaced by Beginning Python by the same author, but unfortunately I haven't seen that one). In general I dislike books that try to teach a language (or other technology) via substantial examples, because the issues with the examples may obscure those with the language or technology; e.g., Stroustrup tries that route in The C++ Programming Language, as Lutz does in Programming Python, and to my taste the results are inferior. However, at least in Practical Python (can't speak for Beginning Python), Hetland managed to pull it off -- perhaps by placing the substantial programs he develops as successive examples in a clever sequence, so that at each step he's not dealing with many diverse new issues but just manageably few of them. Alex -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Python books?
On 9 mar 2007, at 04.06, Tommy Nordgren wrote: Could some kind soul please recommend a few text books on Python 2.5 and it's class library? I've found one interesting text book on Python: Mark Lutz - Programming Python, 3rd Edition. How do you rate it? One of the reasons I find it interesting is because of it's hefty page count - over 1500 pages. -- Home is not where you are born, but where your heart finds peace - Tommy Nordgren, The dying old crone [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Python books?
On Mar 8, 7:06 pm, Tommy Nordgren [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Could some kind soul please recommend a few textbooks on Python 2.5 and it's class library? it's not necessary to have a 2.5 book that can introduce you to the modules of the Python Standard Library (not all modules are [or have] classes so class library perhaps is too restrictive a term). the most significant additions to the std library in 2.5 are: ctypes, sqlite3, xml.etree (ElementTree), wsgiref, cProfile altho they provide new functionality, there are plenty of existing modules in the standard library that are worth learning. the main reference guides to the standard library modules and their attributes include: Python in a Nutshell and Python Essential Reference, both in addition to the online library reference. my book, Core Python Programming, is revised to 2.5, but focuses on teaching you the core part of the language, features, objects, memory management, development, good practices, some advanced topic coverage, and presents lots of exercises. however, it is not an exhaustive guide to the standard library. to find out more about it, check out the reviews and notes on amazon as well as the book's website (see below). hope this helps! -- wesley - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Core Python Programming, Prentice Hall, (c)2007,2001 http://corepython.com wesley.j.chun :: wescpy-at-gmail.com python training and technical consulting cyberweb.consulting : silicon valley, ca http://cyberwebconsulting.com -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Python books?
Have a look at: Core python programming from Wesley J. Chun printed by Prentice Hall. Ralf Schoenian -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Python in a Nutshell v2.5 shortcomings (was: Python books?)
Alex Martelli wrote: I do know that the 2nd edition of Python in a Nutshell tries to do so, but falls quite a bit short on a number of important new additions to the library Which, if I may ask? Regards, Björn -- BOFH excuse #221: The mainframe needs to rest. It's getting old, you know. -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Python books?
Could some kind soul please recommend a few text books on Python 2.5 and it's class library? Kine dies, Kinfolk dies, and thus at last yourself This I know that never dies, how a dead mans deeds are deemed. -- Elder edda Tommy Nordgren [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Python books?
Tommy Nordgren [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Could some kind soul please recommend a few text books on Python 2.5 and it's class library? I believe recent books on Python (such as Python for Dummies and the second edition of Core Python Programming) do cover 2.5; I do know that the 2nd edition of Python in a Nutshell tries to do so, but falls quite a bit short on a number of important new additions to the library (I had to close the book a tad too early to really do them justice, sigh). Alex -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Python books?
I would suggest you the python docs available on python.org.They are the best and latest On 3/9/07, Tommy Nordgren [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Could some kind soul please recommend a few text books on Python 2.5 and it's class library? Kine dies, Kinfolk dies, and thus at last yourself This I know that never dies, how a dead mans deeds are deemed. -- Elder edda Tommy Nordgren [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list -- Regards-- Rishi Pathak National PARAM Supercomputing Facility Center for Development of Advanced Computing(C-DAC) Pune University Campus,Ganesh Khind Road Pune-Maharastra -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Best Python Books and Sites
I have been enjoying the discussion here for a while, and would like to ask for some help. I recently launched a question answer site that connects people with problems to those with solutions. We let people with problems pay solution providers $0.25 for problems in over 100 categories. As part of our service we let people review past problems and also provide resources for their own research. Can anyone tell me (in their opinion)? What are the best three sites for python information? What are the best three python books they own? I would like to compile a list and include it on my site. Regards. Vibi Varghese www.problima.com A place to bring problems ..and to get paid to solve them -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Best Python Books and Sites
VV wrote: I recently launched a question answer site that connects people with problems to those with solutions. We let people with problems pay solution providers $0.25 for problems in over 100 categories. ... What are the best three sites for python information? What are the best three python books they own? Sounds great! Send me $1.50 and I'll send you my six answers. --Scott David Daniels [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
New editions of several Python books.
While I work at a company that uses Python a lot (and would have had a hard time finding such a place a few years ago) I don't really have a clear opinion on whether Python's marketshare (or mindshare) is growing significantly. Perl seems to be in decline, but on the other hand, Ruby is attracting a lot of people. One interesting thing I noticed when I visited Amazon.com today, was that several publishers are busy making new editions of their Python books. These classics are in the pipeline: Python Essential Reference (3rd Edition) by David M. Beazley (Paperback - February 24, 2006) I have the 1st ed. Just as with Martelli's Nutshell-book, this is a really good reference book. (Or was in previous editions at least.) Python, Second Edition : Visual QuickStart Guide (2nd Edition) by Chris Fehily (Paperback - April 14, 2006) In my opinion one of the best beginner books. Straight forward and also affordable. Programming Python, 3rd edition by Mark Lutz (Paperback - July 2006) Never a favourite of mine really, but a popular book... And this is already reissued it seems: Python Programming for the Absolute Beginner, Second Edition by Michael Dawson (Paperback - November 8, 2005) Finally... Beginning Python: From Novice to Professional by Magnus Lie Hetland (Paperback - September 26, 2005) ...was more or less a 2nd edition of Magnus' Practical Python. There is also a Python for Dummies on its way at last. (I'm not sure Python *is* for dummies though. Despite being so easy to learn and use, it mainly seems to attract smart and experienced people, why else would Python programmers be among the best paid programmers?) Somehow, the fact that so many books are reissued in a fairly short period, makes me feel that the publishers feel that the winds are blowing our way... Any thoughts on this? I don't see any similar republish trends among the other scripting languages. (Although Ruby on Rails seems to attract some attention -- four books in the pipeline.) -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: New editions of several Python books.
In article [EMAIL PROTECTED], Magnus Lycka [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: There is also a Python for Dummies on its way at last. (I'm not sure Python *is* for dummies though. Despite being so easy to learn and use, it mainly seems to attract smart and experienced people, why else would Python programmers be among the best paid programmers?) If you can have _Borland C++ for Dummies_, _Python for Dummies_ makes a lot more sense. :-/ -- Aahz ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) * http://www.pythoncraft.com/ 19. A language that doesn't affect the way you think about programming, is not worth knowing. --Alan Perlis -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: New editions of several Python books.
Aahz wrote: If you can have _Borland C++ for Dummies_, _Python for Dummies_ makes a lot more sense. :-/ Well, I guess Borland C++ for Dummies has a genuine purpose, but it could be a very short book. One page where is says: Don't! ;^) I guess it's a seal of mainstream approval to get a Dummies book, and I certainly think that Python should be a relief for many people who aren't programmers but occasionally needs to write small programs. I hope it becomes a hit! I suspect the dummies might want a more polished (dumbed down?) development environment though. -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: New editions of several Python books.
Magnus Lycka wrote: Programming Python, 3rd edition by Mark Lutz (Paperback - July 2006) Never a favourite of mine really, but a popular book... This one is like broccoli. Its good for you but it doesn't have much flavor. -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: New editions of several Python books.
On Feb 9, 2006, at 3:59 PM, James Stroud wrote: Magnus Lycka wrote: Programming Python, 3rd edition by Mark Lutz (Paperback - July 2006) Never a favourite of mine really, but a popular book... This one is like broccoli. Its good for you but it doesn't have much flavor. -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list I found the Learning Python book (that Lutz is a co-author of) a much better book for someone who knows another language and wants to learn Python. The Programming Python has lots of examples, but I found it difficult to look things up. The three books I would recommend for someone (who already knows another language) wanting to learn Python are: Learning Python Python Essential Reference Python Cookbook Dave -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Question: New editions of Python books?
Hi, Are any new editions in the works for either Python Essential Reference or Python in a Nutshell? I'm holding off buying one or the other existing editions, although my library overdue fines for them would have paid for them by now! Thanks, Rob -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
