Amazon review (was Re: Love "Python Cookbook")

[Edward K. Ream]

Here is a review that I plan to submit to Amazon.  It contains lightly
edited versions of what has appeared here, so I thought I should show it
here first for your approval.

[review starts]
This book is a superbly edited collection of recipes that originally
appeared online at http://aspn.activestate.com/ASPN/Python/Cookbook/
containing corrections and updates to the programs, much added discussion,
many additional recipes, and  fourteen extended chapter introductions.

Each snippet is first briefly introduced, then completely and clearly
discussed at length.  The explanations are easy for beginners to understand,
without being in the least condescending, while offering a huge feast for
more experienced programmers.

This book has garnered rave reviews on comp.lang.python, the internet
newsgroup devoted to Python.  Some examples:

"The book is uniformly fantastic, congratulations to the authors!"

"I should note that this is not much like a usual Cookbook, which offers
quick "do things this way" recipes to follow, almost blindly. Instead it
offers deep discussions of various approaches and uses state-of-the-art
techniques (e.g., list comprehensions) that may not be at all obvious to
newcomers."

"I would recommend something like Learning Python as a first book. But then
Python Cookbook is the second book to get, or the first for those who have
been with the language a while."

"I am sure it will be a long time before I have exhausted it. As someone
whose recipes were accepted for publication I can only say that, given all
the changes and enhancements, the editors were generous in their credits."

"You could actually leave out the code, change the title to 'The Python
Philosophy' and still have a really valuable book."

To which the reply was:

"Nowhere quite as valuable, in my humble opinion.  It's not just the 200+
recipes, it's the numerous snippets that show very directly how to do one
thing or another... then, sure, the text can also be quite helpful by
showing what is going on, what's preferable under what conditions, and so
on..."

The general consensus seems to be summed up in this posting:

"If you are serious about Python then get this book."

To which I replied:

"I couldn't agree more.  I won't embarrass myself by telling all the things
I learned in the first chapter :-)  This really is an awe-inspiring book for
the breadth of its coverage and the complete excellence of its presentation.
The authors and especially the editors deserve the highest praise. Even when
explaining the most elementary topics the editors manage to be interesting
and even surprising.  I have already turned down the corners dozens of pages
that I want to study in detail.

In short, this is just a superb job.  It shows the power of a community of
users enhanced by the editing of all-stars."

Who that say that?

I have more than 30 years of programming experience.  For the last year I
have programmed exclusively in Python and tcl/tk.  I am the author of a
major application written in 100% pure Python.  I have benefited greatly
from the help given on comp.lang.python, often by the contributors and
editors of The Python Cookbook.

Edward K. Ream
[review ends]

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Edward K. Ream   email:  edream at tds.net
Leo: Literate Editor with Outlines
Leo: http://personalpages.tds.net/~edream/front.html
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