Cam said
I cannot recommend this book highly enough. When I work in Python it is always close at hand. It was my original introduction to Python and remains my primary reference.
There is strong synergy between Python itself and the layout and structure of the book - the visual examples are emblematic of the way Python was conceived and operates.
There have been some developments in Python since the first edition and for these I recommend Hetland's book, which complements this one nicely.
Marius said
I've always wanted to be able to fully master a programming language, but have found it hard to learn an entire language. Things either got too advanced too early, or I simply lost motivation half way through the book. Python seemed interesting being platform independent and suitable for many different tasks like console, gui, web, game programming and so on.
Maybe there are good tutorials out there, but none of them really got me going. What I needed was a book, and I wanted nothing but the "best". The best book for me isn't necessarily the best one for you.
After spending a few days doing research and comparing many different books, I ended up with Python (Visual QuickStart Guide), and I couldn't have been more happy. This shows that there are actually other alternatives to OReilly books, and for me right now, this book is far superior.
I wanted a book I could read from A-Z, learning all the basics and still being able to complete the book without loosing motivation - 400 pages are doable.
Never have I seen a better layout in any book. It's so clear that I feel sorry for all the people reading other Python books. It's well organized and works fine as a reference. The book contains many small code examples instead of those long neverending ones that takes half a day to type in. Everything is explained as simple and easy as it can get. The author doesn't have many real world examples, but do mention where and how various things can be used for a particular task. I don't really care much about the price and would have bought this book even if it was $50. Anyway, the book is very cheap compared to others.
Chapters:
01. Getting started
02. Expressions and statements
03. Working with numbers
04. Working with strings
05. Working with lists and tuples
06. Working with dictionaries
07. Control flow statements
08. Functions
09. Modules
10. Files
11. Exceptions
12. Classes
The book doesn't teach you anything else than the core of python. No GUI, no network programming or other fancy stuff. What it gives you is an easy way to master the basics of Python. From there on the world is open and you can dig into whatever subject you may find interesting.
Good luck!
John Faughnan said
Amazon doesn't allow us to rate the quality of an author's work separately from the publisher's presentation. That's unfortunate, because as an introductory guide to Python this is quite a good work.
Unfortunately, as of 3/07, it's also being published by Peachpit Press as an "on-demand reprint". There is nothing in the Amazon product description to tell you about this change, and indeed I'm not sure Amazon has any way of knowing about it. If you bought this book in a bookstore you'd see the "on-demand reprint" icon on the front cover, but Peachpit Press should have changed the description on Amazon. This reflects poorly on Peachpit, a company I've previously had respect for.
Peachpit's "on-demand reprint" technology is crude. The book resembled the sort of high-quality bound photocopies I used to see sold for $1-$2 in "third world" bookstores twenty years ago. It is entirely gray scale (black and white?) with blurry screen shots and irregular contrast.
The effect is quite annoying. It doesn't make the book worthless by any means, but it hurts. The cover price is $22, $14 is probably a fair sale price IF you know that you're getting an "on-demand reprint". If you can get a used copy you might do better, but of course you might end up with a used "on-demand reprint".
Of course, if you read this you now know what you're getting, and you can make an informed decision without any surprises. Which is as it should be.
Bindlestiff said
This review paraphrases and expands on a review I posted on Slashdot.
As a small and simple tutorial guide I've enjoyed this book.
Most of the examples are for the command line. This will encourage you to experiment and play. Creative play is where good programmers come from. It's not going to teach you how to write a big app or become a graphics wizard. It's certainly not suitable as your only reference book. It will give you an excellent introduction to the language in simple prose. It's small, lightweight, inexpensive and brief. It'll get you started, and you'll occasionally go back to it when you want a simple understandable explanation of a concept. I've bought some other tomes that weigh 10 times as much, cost 3 times more and came with a CD, that aren't as useful. I like it and still refer back to it on occasion, maybe it'll help you. I suspect it would be ideal for anyone who has trouble with english; since almost every mini-lesson takes about 1 page and carries a very brief commentary, very little translation would be needed compared to most books.
I work in IT where the constant attitude that "O'Reilly books are always good, that's always what you should get" is starting to put a sour taste in my mouth. This book is an excellent example of an alternative to the exhaustive but exhausting O'Reilly style. Experienced working programmers may find it moves too slowly for them but for beginning to intermediate readers this book is a pleasure.
S.RAMASWAMY said
This book lives up to it's promise of being a visual quickstart guide. The concepts are explained clearly with tons of examples - in fact, there are very few pages that don't have examples. The 'Tips' sections are pretty useful. The book is also tastefully laid out and the publishers have stuffed the pages with just the right amount of information. If you are a programmer trying to come up to speed on Python over a weekend, then this is the book for you. Folks who send lot of time in airports or trains might also want to consider this book. Diligently reading this book and trying the examples, should give the reader a solid foundation in Python basics. The author has done an amazing job.
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