Python books?

[Alex Martelli]

BartlebyScrivener <rpdooling at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Mar 14, 3:50 pm, a... at pythoncraft.com (Aahz) wrote:
> 
> > Some people prefer shorter books -- Python for Dummies (for new
> > programmers) and Python in a Nutshell (for experienced programmers) both
> > try to give a thorough survey of Python while keeping the book easy to
> > carry.

Not for me to comment about my own books, but I can second your
recommendation for your "for Dummies" for beginners.

> And other people like lots of examples and code organized around
> practical projects a person might like to accomplish using Python. The
> Python Cookbook 2nd edition is great for this, and Martelli et al are
> great writers, as well as great programmers.

If you like _substantial_ examples, rather than the simple/short ones
typically used in manageable-sized books, Hetland's "Practical Python"
was also a great buy (I believe it's now been replaced by "Beginning
Python" by the same author, but unfortunately I haven't seen that one).

In general I dislike books that try to teach a language (or other
technology) via "substantial examples", because the issues with the
examples may obscure those with the language or technology; e.g.,
Stroustrup tries that route in "The C++ Programming Language", as Lutz
does in "Programming Python", and to my taste the results are inferior.

However, at least in "Practical Python" (can't speak for "Beginning
Python"), Hetland managed to pull it off -- perhaps by placing the
substantial programs he develops as successive examples in a clever
sequence, so that at each step he's not dealing with many diverse new
issues but just manageably few of them.


Alex