Rating: 
Summary: clear explanations of basic concepts make it a winner
Review: I have been programming in Python for a couple of years. "Core" has been on my bookshelf, but I didn't consult it much until I wanted to learn CGI ("Web") programming, and thought I would see what I could find in it.It was a revelation! The explanations of basic concepts are very clear, yet short and to the point, and cover all of the basic information. As one example, the explanation of client-server architecture in the chapter on network programming really gives you the basic concepts. I am extremely impressed. So I think this book would be a very good choice for someone in the beginner to intermediate range. In my case, I'm in the intermediate category for some topics, but for some topics I am a complete beginner. So this book was just what I needed. The explanations are so clear and well-written that it is easy to give "Core" 5 stars. I suggest that you ignore the reviews that complain about the big type. The big type makes the book a pleasure to read: as one reviewer said, you can just sit down and read this book, even if you're not in front of your computer. The only disadvantage to the big type is that it might give a prospective buyer the impression that this book is not as solid as it really is.
Rating: 
Summary: good book
Review: I have read the first 100 pages of the book. The author assumes that you know something about programming, so it is not for absolute beginners. As long as you know the basics of progamming you should be fine. The book is divided into 2 sections: Core Python and advanced topics( regular expressions, network programming, Web programming, and threads, etc). He starts off with a crash course in python covering all major topics of python. Then he covers the topics in detail. I have read other python books before and this one is by far the best. The author is a very good writer. He writes in a very clear and logical manner. The topics are covered thorougly. I haven't seen many errors in the text, so that's good.
Rating:
Summary: Good book for every one. - From beginer to advanced level
Review: I started book reading Acknowledgements,Where i found name of
Guido Van Rossum,creator of Python in Technical Review Panel of this book.That itself establishes the credibility. I recommend Python as the first object oriented program to learn,for that this book is defintely worth.Author explains everything in a very simple manner,including how the language modules itself are constructed. Explaining data structured related to language is basic requirement for any programming book - This book does exceptionaly well in this .I personally liked the part - Extending Python.Also this book covers JPython - Java avatar of Python.
Rating:
Summary: Easy read to get you up and running
Review: I've been a big fan of the Core programming books, including the Core Java volumen 1/2 series. This book I found while skimming my local library and decided to give this little language a try. I understand that this is an "outdated" book that covers Python 2.0, the latest being 2.4.x as of this writing. However, the material covered in this book is still very valuable.
The author does a good job of introducing the language and arguing why Python should grab your interest as an easy to read, easy to maintain, easy to learn language. Several chapters into the book, without writing a single line of code, I could already understand exactly what the code is doing. Python, as taught in this book, sells itself as a very understandable language.
Furthermore, the book provides excercises in the end of each chapter that helps you think in Python when trying to solve the problems. If you've really studied the chapters, the solution to these questions will seem very obvious. As the Python adage goes, "there's only one obvious way of doing it."
The overall format of this book should be a model for how new languages are treated. Get this book if you want to add Python to your programming tool chest. If you're already familiar with one programming language you'll be writing productive scripts in a matter of hours. If this is your first language, in the order of days!
Rating:
Summary: best intro to python
Review: If you do not know python or have only immediate knowledge then get this book. it explains all the python concepts in a clear and easy to follow way. I think it is much better than "Learning Python" from Oreilly or the ugly "Python in 24 hours". If you want to learn python, you should consider buying this book. Besides Addison-Wesleys Book "Programming Ruby - A pragmatic programmers guide", this is one of the best introductions to a language I have come across.
Rating:
Summary: a little too basic for an experienced programmer
Review: If you have been coding in another programming language and if it's OO as well, then you can pick up the python syntax from the tutorial that comes along with the release or tons of web sites can teach you the same. It's pretty straight forward. I have to say here that this book is very weak on the advanced concepts. There are'nt many interesting examples in "advanced topics". I c'd finish it off in a week's time. I think this book is a little too expensive for it's content. If they c'd slash the price then this book is recommended for it covers the basics pretty well.
Rating:
Summary: A great book...
Review: One of the best python books I've read-- topped only by Python Bible 2.1. Core Python Programming is a great resource dealing with the main language and many modules.
Rating:
Summary: A great book...
Review: One of the best python books I've read-- topped only by Python Bible 2.1. Core Python Programming is a great resource dealing with the main language and many modules.
Rating:
Summary: Too much for beginners -- not enough for advanced
Review: The author goes into goes into a lot of detail regarding strings, numbers, lists and and like. In fact, it's so much detail that most beginners might feel overwhelmed. But it's reasonable for a person with some experience. The only problem is that the advanced topics are given less detail than I would have liked. Networking, regular expressions, and the like do not get as much attention as I would have liked.
Rating:
Summary: Too much for beginners -- not enough for advanced
Review: The author goes into goes into a lot of detail regarding strings, numbers, lists and and like. In fact, it's so much detail that most beginners might feel overwhelmed. But it's reasonable for a person with some experience. The only problem is that the advanced topics are given less detail than I would have liked. Networking, regular expressions, and the like do not get as much attention as I would have liked.
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