Newbe-books

[Adelein and Jeremy]

I am no expert, but I would say that if you are new to Python and not
new to programming, then what you really need is a straight-forward
tour through each of Python's features, possibly in comparison to
some other language(s). What you do not need (if my thinking is
correct) is a book about programming using Python. Unfortunately, I
doubt that such a book exists for the reason that a book geared
towards presentation of language-specific features, and nothing more,
would never make it on a list of good-sellers; the content exists in
muliple places (most notably the standard Python documentation), and
that content appeals mainly to people capable of, willing to, and
preferring to turn to those alternative sources.

With this in mind, I can suggest that there are two books that you
definitely do not want to buy: _Python_How_To_Program_ by Dietel et
al, and _Practical_Python_ by Hetland. Both of these cover
programming in general - the former in a formal manner to introduce
computing science, and the latter in a much lighter vein, with more
Python-specificity.

_Learning_Python_ is exceptionally good at covering many of the
Python specifics, but I can't imagine that one could say that the
book's presentation is optimal or even acceptable for someone who
knows programming already - it just covers too many simple concepts.
I can't imagine that the material presented needs to take more than
50 pages for an experienced programmer. So I would say don't buy this
one either - except that it is better than _Programming_Python_ for
presenting Python's language-specific features.

I am unfamiliar with _Core_Python_, and I won't even claim to have
gotten a good idea about it from my quick skim in a bookstore, but it
did appear to be more about Python than about programming, and many
others on this list have recommended it in the same category as
_Learning_Python_. Also _Python_In_A_Nutshell_ sounds to be a good
choice for your purposes, but again I am not very familiar with it.
As I am not knowledgeable of either of these, I have to say that
_Learning_Python_ is, of the books I know, the one I'd recommend -
with the caveat that you will find yourself skimming over many
sections and missing truly important points because they were buried
among simple, basic concepts - but of course that is as it should be;
it's meant for beginners.

I have not suggested online documentation or Guido's tutorial (which
are really the best resources for your situation), because I believe
that as an experienced programmer you would for sure know about these
already, and simply prefer hardcopy for those unfortunate
circumstances when a computer is unavailable.

HTH,
- Jeremy


	
		
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