ANN: Dive Into Python published

[Shane Holloway (TG)]

Mark,

You have done a wonderful job on this book.  I've looked over chapters 
as you have announced them, and I'm happy that you're finally done!  I 
look forward to using this book to introduce Python to the developers we 
hire.

Thanks Again!
-Shane Holloway


Mark Pilgrim wrote:
> I am pleased to announce that my Python book "Dive Into Python" is now
> available on paper, published by Apress and weighing in at 432 pages.
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1590593561/ref%3Dnosim/diveintomark20/
> 
> More information, and a complete online edition, is available at
> <http://diveintopython.org/>.
> 
> Without Apress' financial support, this book would have languished
> half-written and self-published, full of typos and technical mistakes.
> Even if you have read the online edition, please consider buying a
> copy.
> 
> ===== obligatory back cover blurb follows =====
> 
> This is a practical book aimed at busy developers.  Every chapter takes
> a real piece of code and turns it inside out until you can't help but
> understand it.  If there is background information you need to know,
> you'll learn it along the way.  But you won't find long-winded
> treatises on the aesthetics of API design or the history of computer
> science.  I don't have time for that, and neither do you.
> 
> And yet, as practical as this book is, there is a touch of passion in
> it.  I fell in love with Python the day I found it.  Did I fall in love
> because of some abstract sense of elegance or style?  No, I fell in
> love because it works and doesn't get in my way.  The standard
> libraries are robust and easy to use.  The syntax is not picky or
> arcane.  Developing in Python is like writing pseudo-code that works.
> After a decade of experience with dogmatic languages, Python is a
> breath of fresh air.
> 
> This book covers the basics of Python datatypes, from lists to
> dictionaries to tuples and beyond.  You'll learn about the power of
> introspection; Python's powerful object model; regular expressions;
> HTML and XML processing; web services; unit testing; performance
> tuning; and the newest language features added in Python 2.3: iterators
> and generators.
> 
> I hope this book makes you fall in love with Python.  But if not,
> that's okay.  You'll learn plenty anyway, and my passion can be enough
> for both of us.
> 
> --
> Mark Pilgrim
>