Customer Reviews

Dive Into Python

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I am definitely a C++ & Java aficionado (or bigot , you might say) but I think Python is one scripting language that is worth some studying. This book is a very clear, practically oriented introduction, best suited for people who already know how to program in some other language. It gives you a solid knowledge of Python fundamentals with an accent on parsing HTML and XML. Ah I forgot the best part... you do not have to buy the book! It is available for free download at diveintopython.org ... but the book is so good and the price so "right" that you might consider buying the hardcopy. Thank you Mark!

If you've never programmed before, Python is an excellent language to learn modern programming techniques. But this book should not be your starting point. Get "How to Think Like a Computer Scientist: Learning with Python" by Allen Downey, Jeffrey Elkner, Chris Meyers and learn the basics. Then dive into this book.

Mark Pilgrim is an extremely accessible author. He teaches by example. Each chapter teaches powerful techniques and Python idioms by creating a useful program. Anybody with programming experience should be able to follow the examples and learn the language - although a few visits to the Python website docs may help along the way.

Each example is brief and annotated. The annotations combine with explanatory text to reveal the power of this incredible programming language. Python runs on virtually any popular platform and can be downloaded for free. Mark's excellent work will help empower the reader to do useful things almost immediately.

One of the early example programs reads through a directory of MP3 files and lists the header information, such as artist, album, etc. This is accomplished with just a few lines of code.

Mark makes the point that everything in Python is an object. While this is not a text on hard-core object oriented programming, it is an excellent opportunity for the OOP beginner to get a handle on it.

Pilgrim also emphasizes good programming techniques, such as documentation and unit testing. In one of the later chapters he even creates a Python unit testing framework that works for testing Python code to see if it performs as expected. Again, this example is annotated, used to develop both the software engineering skill of unit testing AND properties of the Python language.

He also covers accessing websites and parsing HTML and XML code. This is just an introduction to these subjects. Those interested in learning this in depth will want to continue their reading with other books and web pages focused on these topics.

The book is not dry or boring. It is not a manual. It is an excellent example of how to use the language AND how to think like a master programmer. The latter is reason enough to buy the book even if you're familiar with Python and have been coding for years.

It's a fun read. It's a great second book for somebody learning to program. It's a powerful example for those wishing to improve their programming style and/or learn object programming. I cannot say enough good things about it.

Furthermore, Mark maintains a website and blog. His articles vary from technically dense to enticingly interesting. He's even responded to email I sent him. How many authors do that?

If you found your way to this page, GET THE BOOK! Being here is proof that it's a good match for you. And if you just want to learn to program and have no experience - get the book anyway, then get a more basic book to go with it. DIVE INTO PYTHON will make you a quality programmer if you work your way through it.

If you are already a programmer by trade, but haven't yet started to learn Python, get this book either here or from the web site (just search to find it), and dive in. Each chapter starts with an small example program that actually does useful stuff, most of which is foreign to you when you start reading. A few pages later, you'll understand the whole program, and get a good feeling for what "Pythonic" programming is all about.

The author really understands the subject matter, and he really understands what is needed by readers who already have a strong programming background. Once you've worked your way through this book, you'll understand 1) Python, 2) Good programming practices in Python, and 3) Why Python has become such a success amongst professional programmers.

NOTE: If you don't already know programming, hold off on this book until later. If the whole topic of programming is brand new to you, go instead for Mark Lutz' book, "Learning Python (2nd edition)". Mark covers in great detail what could go wrong as you try things out. He insures you won't get lost. To do that, he has to be very explicit about everything. Experienced programmers don't need nearly so much detail, as they already know most of the stuff in the Lutz book, and will find themselves skipping trememdous amounts. These are the folks for whom this book is written.

I am finding this to be a great book for evangelization of others to the ranks of Python maniac.

Today's programming world has a multitude of languages to choose from. One recent up-and-comer is Python. Why? Mark Pilgrim gives a forceful presentation of its virtues.

Veterans of other languages will see here a reimplementation of many nice features of several languages. For example, C++ has its Standard Template Library. And the default Java installation comes replete with an extensive library. So too does Python. Pilgrim covers examples of key libraries in various chapters. Like one that knows HTML and another than can parse XML. So you don't have to go back to writing grungy low level code. And writing an XML parser is very tricky to get right. Java and C# programmers have also found introspection to be vital for writing more flexible and modular programs. So that one class can dynamically find another class's methods at runtime. Guess what? Python lets you do this too.

Python is also fully object oriented. Not bad for a 'mere' scripting language. Unlike some others, that are just weakly OO.

The style of the book is example-driven, with carefully chosen examples that introduce key sections of Python. In some way, like a bottoms-up approach. Pilgrim is forthright about the presentation; deliberately eshewing a more elegant, theoretical layout. Very nuts and bolts.

There are multiple editions of this book, my comment specifically refers to one of the Kindle Editions:
Dive into Python

Briefly: don't get the Kindle edition. The point of Dive Into Python is to dive into code, presenting examples and discussing the examples. The Kindle edition is fatally flawed, in that the majority of the code is misformatted - it is wrapped into paragraphs is if it were text. This makes the code examples nearly unreadable, and they're the whole point of the Dive into Python book.

This is one of the best practical programming books I've read in a while. Pilgrim combines interesting examples--not too trivial, not too involved--with crystal clear explanations. I learned a lot of interesting stuff about XML and SOAP that I didn't know before (not to mention Roman numerals) and it was entirely painless! The chapter on regular expressions is not to be missed.

This is not a book for Python beginners. If you haven't done any Python programming before, but are an experienced program, I'd read the excellent tutorial chapter in Beazley's Python Essential Reference (it shouldn't take more than half an hour) and then proceed to Pilgrim's book.

I do have a few minor complaints. Pilgrim has a fondness for and/or constructions that cause me headaches everytime I see them. (Personally, I think it's a defect of the language that "x or y" is equal to either x or y. Hey, Guido, why not just support the ? : ternary operator?) The chapter on refactoring is weak and the example of unittest seemed artificial to me. Also, I could have used a few less language dialect examples. But this book is so much better than any of the other language books I've read in the last few years, that it seems ungrateful to complaint about minor defects.

Dive into Python moves quickly into Objects and puts them to use in processing XML, HTML, and making RPC/SOAP calls. Many of the more powerful Python features are exposed like introspection, streams, unit testing, and generators. In addition, many gems are dropped along the way(classes as behaiving like dict...). DIPy is really a concise, intensive immersion into deep Python very skillfully done.

The first time I read DIPy I was fascinated but knew I was missing a lot. I backtracked and read Beginning Python by Magnus Lie Hetland and some other basic Python books. DIPy does not dwell on the basics - it tells you once and expects you to make sure you understand before moving on.

I am reluctant to admit it but it wasn't untill the third read where everything made sense(Chapter 17 is especially wonderful). It also became clear that DIPy ventures where no other Python book goes and the author accomplished something extraordinary.

In short, DIPy was not a quick read but well worth the effort.

If you want to learn Python, this is the book you need. The author writes in a very clear and fluid way, so you'll never be bored. The exercises at the end of the chapters are also great.

Pretty much everyone who programs Python started with this book (the online version), so you can't go wrong, it's the Python "Bible".

Very nice.. I had to buy this one after having read the whole PDF version...

It's not a beginner's guide - but that was pretty obvious. I think it's unfair to take away stars for that. ESPECIALLY because everybody can preview the PDF version online!

I discovered this book on the web where you can actually read it for free if you're so inclined. The online version is regularly updated by the author as recently as May of this year (2004). Kudos to the author for making it freely available! It's different than most books on programming languages in that each chapter shows you a useful little program and then proceeds to dissect it piece by piece. You don't actually need to know a scripting language already to understand what's being said but it's pretty essential that you know at least one OO language such as C++, Java or C# otherwise the concept of everything is an object and classes may confuse. Coming from a C++ programming background I had no trouble understanding the ideas put forth. The writing is refreshingly clear and concise with minimum waffle and I especially like that the example code is numbered at the end of each line. Comments on these lines are listed below as bullet points. I'm actually a game programmer by trade looking into Python as a possible AI scripting language. There's more than enough in this book to make me consider using Python for just this purpose. For those out there who want a explanation of how Python supports XML and HTML and other web services this book also scores highly. I might never have to write another XML parser again!