Customer Reviews

Python 2.1 Bible

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Disclaimer: I am a Hungry Minds author, currently working on a book whose topic is related to this one's.

Frankly, I really wasn't expecting to like this book. I'm not the kind of guy that buys 'doorstop books' (How to Teach Yourself to be an Idiot in 24 hours), but I figured I'd give this a shot.

I was very surprised at how well the authors managed to cover all the basics with clarity, without resorting t the gratuitous screenshots that many books are prone to. I was also very pleased that they included detailed information on a variety of advanced topics that just don't get covered in many other books, like:

- Embedding the Python interpreter in your programs

- Building a command interpreter (a mini-language) using Python

- An overview of the available IDEs for Python

...and other gems.

As a tutorial, the first section of the book performs admirably, with just the right level of detail. There are a few extras included, such as coverage of arrays, that are not strictly part of the core Python language, but are useful if you are learning Python as second language.

As a general language reference, the book works fairly well, though I still prefer the smaller form-factor of dedicated reference books for this purpose, such as New Rider's 'Python Essential Reference'. In fact, the large size of the book (which makes it hard to hold comfortably) is the only reason that I'm giving it four stars, instead of five.

Looking to tackle Python? I've been shopping for a scripting language and juggled back and forth between tcl, perl, python and ruby... and this book sealed Python as the language for me. Whether you're on a Unix platform or using Windows, looking to build scripting tools, or full-blown gui interfaces, Python is the language for you, and the Python 2.1 Bible will bring you up to speed with everything you need to design, develop and deploy your application using the barrage of tools available in Python. Especially worth reading are the chapters on threading and regular expressions for you hard core folks looking for flexibility and performance. If Brueck's detailed treatment of the existing Python modules don't win you over, his in depth walk through of extending Python by building your own modules in 'C' will. No Python programmer should be without this book!

Filled with clear, detailed explanations of it's many functions and modules, and organized into distinct topics by chapter, the Python 2.1 Bible is one of the better books about Python programming.

The first 12 chapters cover all the basics from expressions and strings to working with files, directories, and data storage.

The remaining pages discuss some of the most common applications of the language from networking to user interfaces as well as some topics that aren't really covered in other books like image and sound processing.

Despite it's detail, the Python 2.1 Bible does gloss over Object Oriented Programming a bit, preferring to describe the syntax and Python-centric operations rather than explain the hows and whys of OOP in and of itself. Suffice to say that if you have many questions about OOP in general, you will need to consult a different book.

Also, there are some typos and other errors which may cause newbies a bit of frustration. For example, a sample program for a simple curses (text-based GUI) menu declared a variable with the incorrect name. This kind of editorial SNAFU is rather annoying, especially for a book geared for beginning to intermediate users, but unfortunately prevalent in many technical books on the market as well.

However despite these quibbles, the Bible does provide an excellent starting point for newbies and may even shed some light for advanced users.

Overall, this is a well-written book about the Python language that will appeal to novice and intermediate programmers.

I am a fan of this book!

First and foremost, all the information I needed to write Python programs was there and it was easy to find. This means the book is well organized and the index is great. Don't forget to check out the book's website too.

Secondly, the book covers topics no other book that I know touches. Read the TOC of Parts IV and V by clicking the book cover picture at the top of this page and you will agree.

Thirdly, the authors have a concise style, which you will learn to appreciate after reading chatty Pythonist folks like Lutz. Bruek and Tanner tell you just what you need to know and they use only as many words as needed for this purpose.

Finally, I like the fonts used in this book. They are special, even the one used for Python scripts, and they set the apparence of this book apart from your typical computer language book.

The coverage of the OOP could indeed be expanded, and, most importantly, the book needs a new edition to cover the latest Python version (2.4 as I write this). I would buy a copy of the second edition on the spot.

With a background of C/C++ and Java, I was dropped in the Python deep-end by a client who had a systems monitoring tool written in Python that needed urgent enhancements made. I ordered the Python 2.1 Bible and the client provided Programming Python 2nd edition (pub. O'Reilly). The O'Reilly book looked at first sight more useful, but I choked on it as it assumed prior knowledge of Python. The Python 2.1 Bible, on the other hand, assumed no prior knowledge of Python and within 3 days (whilst waiting for a Linux box to arrive !) I had written a number of powerful disk utilities, socket-based clients and servers, small GUI-based programs etc that ran on my Windows-based PC and which should run on Linux too (still waiting for the box !!). For me it was an excellent introduction to Python. After reading the Python 2.1 Bible I felt able to read Programming Python. Still waiting for the Linux box though so still haven't written the "urgent" enhancements...

The only negatives I would have for Python 2.1 Bible are:
(1) that it assumed C/C++ knowledge (which was fine for me but might not be for other people)
(2) a (very) few areas could have done with a bit more explanation, raising questions that experienced OO people would want answered

The documentation that comes with Python is woefully inadequate (pitifully lacking in examples, links and clearer writing), which means that any Python user will need to buy some extra documentation such as this wonderful book.
Although this book needs to be updated now since the current version of Python is 2.5, it's still an extremely useful book with instantly useful examples. If they came out with a second edition I would snap it up.
The writing style may not be a paragon of elegance but it is straight to the point. I would also recommend "Python in a Nutshell" as an extra reference.

Not too bad. It helped me develop my sense of what Python is about and I appreciate it for that. It has some good examples of the extensive class library.

I was a little disappointed in its treatment of the language fundamentals (it took me ages to find something that described "__main__"). This isn't the book to really get a grip on the structure of the language itself.

I already know some C, C++ and Perl, so I cannot say if this book is really appropriate for someone as an introduction to their first programming language, but for the most part I found it very easy to understand. The authors cover the core Python language in the first 8 chapters, and goes on to introduce methods from some of Python's most important modules (libraries) and give small example programs using many of these features in the next 30 chapters. My gut feeling is that even a dedicated newbie to computing could learn Python from this single book if they worked at it.

The one rough spot is that the authors sometimes insert features into a sample program before that module is covered. However, the reader can simply reference that feature in the index, or just wait to learn what it does in detail later in the book.

I don't remember the author stating this, but whenever you are running Python from a script as opposed to from a prompt, you need to explicity print the result of the expression.

I was worried that Python 2.1 was too old, given that the current is 2.7 (I am on 2.6.4), but I have found that except for a couple of methods being deprecated, everything worked as given.

All in all, it is fairly comprehensive and well written. I heartily recommend this book to anyone wishing to learn Python.
-Mike

The book does cover a lot of ground regarding Python and tool kits that are available.

I found it a bit too advanced for someone just getting into the language, however if you already have some familiarity with the language it would help you expand your knowledge beyond the basics obtained with the initial download.

It just covered to much ground to do the job completely and although I know it will become helpful in the future it was the wrong place for me to start.

Without a doubt the best and most helpful python book that I've read to date.