Learning Python, Second Edition [Paperback]

Mark Lutz (Author), David Ascher (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0596002815 | ISBN-13: 978-0596002817 | Publication Date: December 2003 | Edition: Second Edition

Portable, powerful, and a breeze to use, Python is the popular open source object-oriented programming language used for both standalone programs and scripting applications. Python is considered easy to learn, but there's no quicker way to mastery of the language than learning from an expert teacher. This edition of Learning Python puts you in the hands of two expert teachers, Mark Lutz and David Ascher, whose friendly, well-structured prose has guided many a programmer to proficiency with the language.

Learning Python, Second Edition, offers programmers a comprehensive learning tool for Python and object-oriented programming. Thoroughly updated for the numerous language and class presentation changes that have taken place since the release of the first edition in 1999, this guide introduces the basic elements of the latest release of Python 2.3 and covers new features, such as list comprehensions, nested scopes, and iterators/generators.

Beyond language features, this edition of Learning Python also includes new context for less-experienced programmers, including fresh overviews of object-oriented programming and dynamic typing, new discussions of program launch and configuration options, new coverage of documentation sources, and more. There are also new use cases throughout to make the application of language features more concrete.

The first part of Learning Python gives programmers all the information they'll need to understand and construct programs in the Python language, including types, operators, statements, classes, functions, modules and exceptions. The authors then present more advanced material, showing how Python performs common tasks by offering real applications and the libraries available for those applications. Each chapter ends with a series of exercises that will test your Python skills and measure your understanding.

Learning Python, Second Edition is a self-paced book that allows readers to focus on the core Python language in depth. As you work through the book, you'll gain a deep and complete understanding of the Python language that will help you to understand the larger application-level examples that you'll encounter on your own. If you're interested in learning Python--and want to do so quickly and efficiently--then Learning Python, Second Edition is your best choice.

Editorial Reviews

Review

As a book for programmers who want to learn Python, it does a very good job. The coverage is informative and well order; making it easy to find what you're looking for. Overall, if you do some work with Python, you will benefit from owning this book. " - Sam Smith, news@UK, March "This book is a good example of Python culture, in the clarity of its text as much as in the quality of its code. Anyhone working their way through it will have a solid foundation upon which to explore Python's potential. Highly recommended." - Ivan Uemilianin, CVu, October 2004

About the Author

Mark Lutz is an independent Python trainer, writer, and software developer, and is one of the primary figures in the Python community. He is the author of the O'Reilly books Programming Python and Python Pocket Reference (both in 2nd Editions), and co-author of Learning Python (both in 2nd Editions). Mark has been involved with Python since 1992, began teaching Python classes in 1997, and has instructed over 90 Python training sessions as of early 2003. In addition, he holds BS and MS degrees in computer science from the University of Wisconsin, and over the last two decades has worked on compilers, programming tools, scripting applications, and assorted client/server systems. Whenever Mark gets a break from spreading the Python word, he leads an ordinary, average life with his kids in Colorado. Mark can be reached by email at , or on the web at http://www.rmi.net/~lutz.

David Ascher is the lead for Python projects at ActiveState, including Komodo, ActiveState's integrated development environment written mostly in Python. David has taught courses about Python to corporations, in universities, and at conferences. He also organized the Python track at the 1999 and 2000 O'Reilly Open Source Conventions, and was the program chair for the 10th International Python Conference. In addition, he co-wrote Learning Python (both editions) and serves as a director of the Python Software Foundation. David holds a B.S. in physics and a Ph.D. in cognitive science, both from Brown University.

Product Details

• Paperback: 552 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media; Second Edition edition (December 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0596002815
• ISBN-13: 978-0596002817
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (47 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #453,981 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

134 of 144 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good even for experienced..., January 26, 2004

By 

Wayne Folta (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Learning Python, Second Edition (Paperback)

I was a programmer for 15+ years and used Perl for 8 or so of those years, so although I'm a newcomer to Python I'm definitely not a newcomer to programming or to scripting languages. When I ordered this book, I was worried that it might be too basic, but the more advanced O'Reilly Python books have not been updated to Python 2.2/2.3, so I ordered Learning Python anyhow.

And now that I've read it, I can highly recommend it even for experienced programmers. You will have to skim over basics in various chapters, but it's well-written and covers many topics, including 5-10 pages on 2.2's new-style classes, including static and class methods, instance slots, class properties, and __getattribute__.

It refers you to Python's documentation for the details of complex topics, but still gives you an idea of the concepts in play. For example, after a couple of paragraphs on instance slots, it says,

"... Slots are something of a break with Python's dynamic nature, which dictates that any name may be created by assignment. They also have additional constraints and implications that are far too complex for us to discuss here (e.g. some instances with slots may not have an attribute dictionary __dict__); see Python 2.2 release documents for details."

Which I think is a good compromise. They don't fill the book with details, but they don't simply wave their hands and give you no clue as to issues outside the scope of the book.

It is well-written and well-organized. It covers the core language well and gives a good taste for standard packages and many other tools including things like Pyrex and ctype.

(And you won't be disappointed with Python itself. A great language!)

36 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars very good book for us noobs, August 26, 2007

By 

GameMaker (Portland, OR USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Learning Python, Second Edition (Paperback)

I'm an experienced C/C++ developer and needed to pick up python in a hurry for work. I ended up buying several python books to make sure I had all my bases covered. I've come to appreciate this book a lot.

It does two things very well. First, it gives you a good overview of the language. You can read the book front to back and it has a nice progression. You'll certainly know the basics if you do that.

Second, and probably more importantly, for those of us too impatient to read a book cover-to-cover, it serves as an excellent reference for beginners. When I started out there were all the little noob things that I found myself constantly having to look up. Like "how do you specify a comment?" or "how do you structure and if-block?" or "how to you get a substring out of a string". Very basic questions like this that many python books don't bother with because apparently they are too basic.

If there is a weakness, it's just that this book is rather small and only covers the very basics. So reading this book alone will certainly not make you a mighty python programmer, or even give you enough info to probably write something interesting. But this book definitely deserves a place on your bookshelf if you are starting out and need the basics.

94 of 110 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not really useful, January 3, 2006

By 

Joshua P. Swink - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Learning Python, Second Edition (Paperback)

This book is not very good for actually learning Python. It also lacks a reference section and is excessively wordy.

Learning implies tutorials and a gentle progression from basic to advanced subjects; this book does neither. For example, in chapter 3, "How You Run Programs", it introduces modules and namespaces--fairly advanced concepts to read about before even the first "hello world" program! In chapter 4, as it describes the use of numbers and strings, it is already delving deep into the uses and implications of Python's objects.

With well over 500 pages, there should be plenty of room for a reference section, but there is none. There is no list of built-in classes and their methods.

The overall tone of the book is enthusiastic, touting Python's object-orientedness and other advantages. Unfortunately, it is excessively wordy and difficult to read. Cheerleading can be excused, but it is present on nearly every page and gets old quick.

In a book about programming or a programming language, one might want tutorials, reference, discussion of advanced topics, or code examples. This book provides none of these things. I do not recommend it.