Rating: 
Summary: Excellent!
Review: This book really has everything you need to know to start coding python. I know perl, java and C++ so everything was very clear to me and I've never seen object oriented programming explained so well in any other book (pythons syntax helps of course).
A new edition is needed though, not only because it doesn't cover python 2 but also because it doesn't cover packages and a few other things that were covered in the 1st edition of Programming Python but not in the 2nd edition.
Rating:
Summary: Learning Python (Help for Programmers)
Review: An EXCEPTIONAL introductory learning manual. My programming background is strictly mainframe Cobol (15 years). I have never coded in C, C++, OOP, or any other open-source language. I have found this book to be very easy to read, to understand, and to utilize in coding new applications. Even though Python is currently in release 2.2, this release 1.5 version of Learning Python is still 100% applicable.If you are learning Python: YOU NEED THIS BOOK !!
Rating: 
Summary: An average book at best
Review: This book is a terribly lazy attempt at writing a Python tutorial.
Sure, you can read it from start to finish, and write yourself some working Python code. However, when you want to write something slightly different to what is covered in this book, you suddenly realise how incomplete this book is. Eg, it covers the hasattr, getattr, setattr, and delattr built in functions, which is fine if you already know what attributes an object has, but in no way can I work out with this book how, or if it is even possible, to get a list of an object's existing attributes. It is incredibly frustrating trying to learn Python from this book. I am writing this review because I came online to look for a better Python book. I was hoping to find something by the Wrox publishers, as their Beginning Java2 is excellent, but it looks like I am out of luck...
Rating: 
Summary: Simply dreadful
Review: Having previously read several O'reilly Perl books I thought that learning Python from this text would be straight forward. Unfortunately this book has none of the helpful examples that the Perl books have and also dissappointing was the reluctance to write the code as you might using a text editor. Instead the authors seem to prefer to write code as it would be run from the interpreter on the commandline. This made it really hard to write any Python using the text editor. All in all a complete waste of money.
Rating:
Summary: Best Python Book To Start With
Review: This is a wonderful introductory book to Python for people with a (small) background in programming. Significantly more readable than Programming Python, this volume succinctly relates what you need to know without bogging down in extended examples or tedious details. From here the online references take over or, like a true hacker, you can just start reading source code. Together with the upcoming Python Cookbook, this is all you need to buy to be productive in the best language you are ever likely to meet. Nice rat, too.
Rating: 
Summary: beginning python
Review: Well this book is a decent reference on how to use python the older version. If the book would have had an input statement or two to make it more interactive, the book would have been great!
A couple of simple practical examples, that you can see the out come of a file that you saved. The interpreter is okay, but you would like to see a simple example using the input statement to make interesting..
Rating: 
Summary: Good, improvable.
Review: You can learn Python from this book. However, this is not one of those books which capture your attention, like, say, Kernighan's books, or even "Learning Perl". You have to fight against this book. This is mainly for the following reasons, IMHO:
1. Jargon is used too frequently. If you are not a hacker (in the good, original sense) you have to work against the language (not Python, English!), too. I had to reach for the "Hacker's Dictionary", now and then. For instance, the word "hook" is used in a technical sense without being explained.
2. Object is never defined. In the "official" tutorial, which is much shorter, a clear and concise definition is given. This is badly needed, for "object", in the python world, is different that in
C++, or smalltalk, world, where it is a class instance. In python it is the triple (type, address, value).
3. Phrases like "Classes are mostly just namespace" don't help the beginner who wants to know what distinguishes a concept from another. These abstractions are premature.
4. The too frequent use of Monthy Python terms like "spam" and
"eggs" is ridiculous, and makes the examples seem totally useless pieces of programming. So, I think this book is perfect for one who is a personal programmer and wants to learn quickly what Python is all about. He will probably like the book for the very reasons I complain against it. The subtitle is correct: Help for Programmers. Still, you'll learn the language. But with a fight!
Rating:
Summary: Simply the BEST book for learning Python.
Review: I've seen the rest; this is the best. A colleague and I decided to concentrate on learning Python for the next few months. We have used a few books; none of these comes close to this book. This is the ONLY book I would recommend for learning Python provided you already had some programming experience with another language.
Rating:
Summary: Good if you already know programming little bit.....
Review: This book is pretty good for those who already know programming [such in c++/c/etc..] a little bit. If you have no experience in programming you might get lost sometime. After all this book gives the flavor of Python doesn't go very deep for example it doesn't say how to search in a list or it doesn't talk about advanced mathematical calculation on Matrix even though Python has impressive built-in functions for Matrix calculation. So far I liked this book and if I wanted to know more I had to search on the internet. After all I liked this book. I am thinking to buy another book which covers more advanced topics and STL stuffs. Hope you will be able to ... thanks and good luck.
Rating:
Summary: The python language for experts
Review: First of all, this book is *not* for you if you're a newbie programmer. Shoo. Go get a book that teaches more about programming as well. Now, if you *have* coded before, and want to learn Python, then this book should be in your cart. I was suprised how proficient I had become in python after one day with it--already writing functions! It's been a week, now, and I just can't stop. BTW, there is something in the book that may confuse you. If you don't understand why this book mentions, of all things, spam, dead parrots and lumberjacks, you probably also don't know much about "Monty Python's flying circus"--from which, as I hope you have guessed, Python got its name. I chuckled as I read (and typed) lumberjack="okay" ...and I still think its funny. 'Ni!'
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