Rating: 
Summary: Dive in and start programming with the first chapter
Review: Dive Into Python does exactly what you would expect from the title. The author takes you right into Python by going through installation in the first chapter and you are already writing a program in the second chapter. This is a book designed for the person who wants to just jump in and get right to work with Python without a lot of preliminary theoretical work. That makes it an ideal book for anyone who has written programs before in Perl, Java, or other languages and already understands things like flow control and similar programming constructs.
The book starts with the basics and by the end has given the reader a good foundation in Python. Areas covered include declaring functions, dictionaries, lists, variables, string formatting, objects, importing modules, working with classes, exceptions, file objects, loops, regular expressions, html processing, xml processing, scripts and streams, http web services, SOAP web services, refactoring, and dynamic functions. With lots of code examples it is easy to follow along with the text and begin writing useful programs quickly.
This is a basic text on Python. It includes everything you need to start programming basic programs. There are more advanced books available but they all tend to assume that you at least have this foundational knowledge in order to understand how they use Python to access a database or make your program network aware with TCP/IP functions, or similar more advanced functions. If you are new to Python this is an excellent place to start and get up to speed quickly by actually working with the program from the first day. Dive Into Python is a highly recommended purchase.
Rating:
Summary: Great book & it comes for free!
Review: I am definitely a C++ & Java aficionado (or bigot , you might say) but I think Python is one scripting language that is worth some studying. This book is a very clear, practically oriented introduction, best suited for people who already know how to program in some other language. It gives you a solid knowledge of Python fundamentals with an accent on parsing HTML and XML. Ah I forgot the best part... you do not have to buy the book! It is available for free download at diveintopython.org ... but the book is so good and the price so "right" that you might consider buying the hardcopy. Thank you Mark!
Rating:
Summary: An excellent and practical guide to Python
Review: I discovered this book on the web where you can actually read it for free if you're so inclined. The online version is regularly updated by the author as recently as May of this year (2004). Kudos to the author for making it freely available! It's different than most books on programming languages in that each chapter shows you a useful little program and then proceeds to dissect it piece by piece. You don't actually need to know a scripting language already to understand what's being said but it's pretty essential that you know at least one OO language such as C++, Java or C# otherwise the concept of everything is an object and classes may confuse. Coming from a C++ programming background I had no trouble understanding the ideas put forth. The writing is refreshingly clear and concise with minimum waffle and I especially like that the example code is numbered at the end of each line. Comments on these lines are listed below as bullet points. I'm actually a game programmer by trade looking into Python as a possible AI scripting language. There's more than enough in this book to make me consider using Python for just this purpose. For those out there who want a explanation of how Python supports XML and HTML and other web services this book also scores highly. I might never have to write another XML parser again!
Rating:
Summary: EXCELLENT intro to Python for programmers
Review: If you are already a programmer by trade, but haven't yet started to learn Python, get this book either here or from the web site (just search to find it), and dive in. Each chapter starts with an small example program that actually does useful stuff, most of which is foreign to you when you start reading. A few pages later, you'll understand the whole program, and get a good feeling for what "Pythonic" programming is all about.The author really understands the subject matter, and he really understands what is needed by readers who already have a strong programming background. Once you've worked your way through this book, you'll understand 1) Python, 2) Good programming practices in Python, and 3) Why Python has become such a success amongst professional programmers. NOTE: If you don't already know programming, hold off on this book until later. If the whole topic of programming is brand new to you, go instead for Mark Lutz' book, "Learning Python (2nd edition)". Mark covers in great detail what could go wrong as you try things out. He insures you won't get lost. To do that, he has to be very explicit about everything. Experienced programmers don't need nearly so much detail, as they already know most of the stuff in the Lutz book, and will find themselves skipping trememdous amounts. These are the folks for whom this book is written. I am finding this to be a great book for evangelization of others to the ranks of Python maniac.
Rating:
Summary: The best introduction to Python out there
Review: If you want to learn Python, this is the book you need. The author writes in a very clear and fluid way, so you'll never be bored. The exercises at the end of the chapters are also great. Pretty much everyone who programs Python started with this book (the online version), so you can't go wrong, it's the Python "Bible".
Rating:
Summary: Great high-level introduction
Review: This book is a great overview of not just the python language, but how to think like a python programmer. If you're looking for a dry reference book that lists all of the functions and modules available in Python, this isn't your book. What it does do is give you a good grounding in the basics and give you a great feel for Python. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic!
Review: This book is great! His style is very challenging and fun. You You are thrown right in just over your head each chapter and thought to swim at this depth. He shows you essential tricks to writing useful object oriented Python code right from the start. This is not an exhaustive text relating every aspect of the language but rather a quick in-depth guild to writing effective code using the full power of Python.
Rating:
Summary: Nice intro to Python
Review: This is a fairly comprehensive intro to Python that will be of most benefit to those that already have some programming knowledge. Pilgrim's writing style is fairly straightforward and concise. Examples are appropriate and understandable.
One thing I wish I'd have known prior to purchasing the book is that the entire thing can be found at www.diveintopython.org.
Rating:
Summary: Fun introduction to Python for programmers
Review: This is a fun introduction to Python that goes from installations, through the basics of the language, and into specific tasks. The text is built for programmers who already know a language. The type of reader who can handle a fairly terse text that assumes that you know the fundamentals of imperative programming languages (e.g. C, C++, Java, etc.).
I enjoyed the book a lot. The book gave me more credit than a book like Learning Python which starts at the very basics. And for a book of relatively few pages it gets into some cool topics like refactoring, unit tests, and functional programming very quickly.
If you want an introduction to Python that doesn't talk down to you then dive in Python here.
Rating:
Summary: Great way to learn Python
Review: This is a great way to learn python. Many tutorials give you the building blocks for writing a useful program, but you never put the blocks together. In this book, each chapter starts with a useful program. In the rest of the chapter you learn what each part of the program does. At the end you understand how it all works.
I found it to be very interesting and engaging. It was never boring because you were always learning about a program that did something useful. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to learn Python.
|
