looking for a book on python

[Aahz]

In article <CHx1m.1602$NF6.1269 at nwrddc02.gnilink.net>,
Randy Foiles  <abuse at 127.0.0.1> wrote:
>OdarR wrote:
>> 
>> "Learning Python"
>> http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596513986/
>> 
>> new issue soon, covering 2.6 and 3
>> http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596158064/?CMP=AFC-ak_book&ATT=Learning+Python%2c+Fourth+Edition%2c
> 
>I was thinking of that book and a few others.  I am not sure at this 
>point what the difference is in 2.6 and 3?

There are lots of differences between 2.6 and the just-released 3.1, but
opinions are split about which is better for learning: some people say
that you should learn 3.x first because it's the future of Python and
it's simpler/cleaner; others (including me) say you should learn 2.x
first because that's where the bulk of current code is and many 3rd-party
libraries have not yet been ported to 3.x.

In the end, it doesn't make a lot of difference, as long as you stick
with only 2.x or 3.x during your initial learning: the core Python
syntax changes very little between the 2.x and 3.x, and there are only
two critical differences that will hit you up-front:

* Python 2.x has ``print`` as a statement; 3.x has ``print()`` as a
function

* Python 2.x has 8-bit strings by default; 3.x uses Unicode and has no
way to access 8-bit strings except as byte arrays

You might want to bookmark this, though:
http://docs.python.org/3.1/whatsnew/index.html
-- 
Aahz (aahz at pythoncraft.com)           <*>         http://www.pythoncraft.com/

"as long as we like the same operating system, things are cool." --piranha