Beginning Python: From Novice to Professional (Books for Professionals by Professionals) [Paperback]

Magnus Lie Hetland (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1590599829 | ISBN-13: 978-1590599822 | Publication Date: September 10, 2008 | Edition: 2nd ed. 2008. Corr. 2nd printing

Propelled by growing interest in open source scripting languages, harried adoption of Web frameworks such as Django (http://www.djangoproject.com/), and continued work on third-party language implementations such as IronPython (http://www.codeplex.com/IronPython), the Python programming language is experiencing surging community enthusiasm and adoption. With both Microsoft and Google heavily investing in Python-related products and services, the potential audience can only grow for the foreseeable future.

Beginning Python, Second Edition is the long-awaited revision to the popular first edition, having been updated to reflect new features introduced with Python 3.0. Additional changes are being made to reflect modern development paradigms, such as the exploding popularity of using Web frameworks such as Django in lieu of more archaic approaches.

See the following resources for more information on the Python language:

Python website: http://www.python.org/

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Magnus Lie Hetland is an associate professor of algorithms at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, NTNU. Even though he loves learning new programming languages—even quite obscure ones—Magnus has been a devoted Python fan and an active member of the Python community for many years, and is the author of the popular online tutorials "Instant Python" and "Instant Hacking." He is the author of Beginning Python (Apress, 2005), as well as several scientific papers. When he isn’t busy staring at a computer screen, he may be found reading (even while bicycling), acting (in a local theater group), or gaming (mostly role-playing games).

Product Details

• Paperback: 688 pages
• Publisher: Apress; 2nd ed. 2008. Corr. 2nd printing edition (September 10, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590599829
• ISBN-13: 978-1590599822
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #55,292 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #22 in Books > Computers & Technology > Programming > Languages & Tools > Python

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very readable, and reasonable..., November 17, 2008

By 

Robert A. Gibson "softwareengineer" (Research Triangle Park, NC - USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beginning Python: From Novice to Professional (Books for Professionals by Professionals) (Paperback)

I admit it. I really like Python as a programming language. So there. :-)
I think that Magnus has a very reasonable approach to presenting Python as a programming language. The real benefit to this book, however, is the collection of projects, and the way in which they are presented. Each project chapter is presented using the following template:

- What's the problem
- Useful tools
- Preparations
- First implementation
- Second implementation
...
- Putting it all together
- Further exploration

Far too many programming books present the "final" code in all its "glory" with no indication to the reader that it took multiple iterations to get to the code that was presented.

Yes, this takes a bit more room, but for those to whom programming is new, it is a very valuable technique. It is really important for programmers to realize that the first draft, or attempt, doesn't have to (and will almost never) be right, or complete.

Thanks
Magnus!

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Still Useful, after all these years., March 2, 2009

By 

Mfragin - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beginning Python: From Novice to Professional (Books for Professionals by Professionals) (Paperback)

With the move to Python 3.0, I've been reading newer Python books a lot recently, either in final print form or pre-publication drafts. Then a friend just gave me her copy of this book, which I had read before but did not own.

I ended up re-reading a lot of this book and loving it more this time around. In particular, Magnus writes true Python code, getting to the heart of the language itself. I've read one too many "Python" books that are merely re-writes of a programming book from another language. Sure, you can re-write your C or Java code in Python, but to really grasp the beauty and efficiency of Python, you should be writing true Python (Pythonic) code. Magnus gets it, and this book is definitely worth reading, even now. It would be nice to have a version updated to 3.0, but this book is much better than the few 3.0 books I have seen published so far.

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book for learning Python, December 6, 2008

By 

Bob "PyDoc" (Arizona, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beginning Python: From Novice to Professional (Books for Professionals by Professionals) (Paperback)

I've been programming computers since 1960. This is the best book I've ever seen on learning a new language. Material is introduced at the right pace, in the right order, and in a very readable fashion. I highly recommend it. I tried other books on Python (free and non-free) and chose this one as the best for me. I think it will be the best for you, too!