Neophyte looking for good books on Python

[Keith F. Woeltje]

If you want free, look at the Python web site page listing introductions
( http://www.python.org/doc/Intros.html ). There are a bunch of
tutorials on the web. Most people start with the tutorial that comes
with Python <whisper>although I'm ashamed to admit I have not yet worked
through that--don't tell anyone</whisper>.

I too am in the process of learning Python, and I like books. My
favorite book so far is /The Quick Python Book/ by McDonald. I also
liked /Learning Python/ by Lutz and Ascher. Both books cover the basics,
but their organization and emphasis is different. I've looked at /Sams
Teach Yourself Python in 24 Hours/ by Van Laningham at Borders. It's
organization and content seem OK, but they use relatively small screen
shots to display example program output, and I didn't like that.
Beazley's /Python Essential Reference/ is indeed a great reference. Its
introductory pages might be enough for an ueber-programmer to learn
Python from, but probably not a beginner. For someone completely new to
programming, /Learn to Program Using Python/ by Gauld would be a good
first book, but you would need to follow it up with the tutorial or
another book.

O'Reilly is supposed to release a second edition of /Programming Python/
in March, covering 2.0, so I'd hold off on that particular book if I
were you. No doubt it will be THE book to get once it comes out.

Have fun
>K

galyak wrote:
> 
> I'm looking for good books on Python. I'm a neophyte programmer and I
> have a small understanding of C. I'm looking for good introductory books
> on Python.
> 
> I've heard that "Programming Python by Mark Lutz" is a real treat. Since
> python is an evolving language, is this book to old (1997)? Should i get
> something fresher? I don't know.
> 
> Have a nice day. Thanks.
> 
> --
> galyak
> 
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