Customer Reviews

Python 3 Object Oriented Programming

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

 

 

Python is famous for being a 'glue' language that people use to write scripts piecing together other pieces of code, but it's readability really lends itself well to being used for larger projects. That said, unless you're a programmer coming from another language (most object oriented books target either Java or C++/C#) who already has a solid base in creating projects in an OO way, you're likely to only know the syntax (creating classes, instances) for it, and possibly wonder what the fuss is. It's hard to find a Python book that has more than a quick chapter on OO, when in fact creating an OO program from analysis and design to implementation is far more than knowing the keywords. If you're one of those who learned how to program in Python from the tutorial (and possibly only learned programming in Python), this is the book to get to help move you along with some practical tips and exercises. Unlike a couple other reviewers, I paid for my copy, and just for the way it made things click for me, I'd recommend it.

I can't claim to have looked hard for a Python book on object oriented programming (OOP) but I was immediately attracted to the title of this book. Sure, you can find small tutorials here and there about some specific facet of OOP but I don't recall ever reading something that covers designing public interfaces using abstraction, encapsulation, etc, etc with good and practical examples! If you have, please drop me a link in the comments.
Python 3 Object Oriented Programming by Dusty Phillips does a very decent job of not only introducing the reader to the terminology and the object oriented paradigm (something that is not too complicated to understand) but also offers a comprehensive step-by-step guide that will take you from theory to a real world project. I've always felt that anyone can pick up a book about programming and learn its syntax by heart. But putting it all together and designing something that will actually work is something that you usually learn by reading other people's code or, if you're lucky enough, from a mentor.
Overall I felt that the book was well written with a great selection of sample code. Whether you already know how to do object oriented programming for other languages or are new to the whole concept and want to learn everything about it, I definitely recommend this book!

Disclaimer: Dusty Phillips is my dear friend and mentor.

A little disclosure. The working title of this book was "Programming Python and when not to do it" (I'm sorry, Dusty, if I remember it wrong). It was one of the books I should have read before going too deep. Unfortunately it wasn't released yet when I was already too deep into Python.

Python 3 OOP is a mixture of introduction to general concepts in programming applicable to just about every OOP language out there, and a bunch of practical advice and examples that will stop you from reinventing the wheel more than once. In other words, you will be getting a good balance of hands-on and theory. The book will guide you through the basics of OOP in general terms, and then allow you to dive straight into Python object-oriented programming. However, the purpose of reading this book gets apparent later on, as the author explains when to actually use all the powerful tools you have at your disposal, and further expands with with various shortcuts you can take to avoid programming when you can.

In the last chapters you will have a wealth of design patterns that you can, again, apply on most programming languages. The book ends with a list of very useful libraries that can save you time with common tasks like XML-parsing, UI, databases, web development...

Each chapter is augmented by a set of exercises which are no doubt created based on his professional experience as a developer. You will get a chance to apply your newly acquired knowledge on things expert programmers deal with on daily basis.

Disclaimer: I received a review copy of this book from the publisher, Packt Publishing.

Prior to reading this book I was already familiar with basic OOP concepts and Python 2 in particular. I expected the book to enforce my thinking and help me to understand new features provided by Python 3 as compared to version 2. I think the book managed to do this in an excellent manner.

I think the approach used by the book is well suited for a wide range of readers. It explains enough theory and provides useful examples that help to understand how to apply OOP in practice. People new to Python and/or OOP have a lot to gain from the book. More experienced users of the language may find the book ideal as reference material.

It's important to note that the book focuses on OOP particularly in the context of Python. Don't expect any history lessons or theory on various OOP approaches (prototypes vs. classes, ie.) beyond the one (class based approach) used in Python. Despite this the book provides excellent value. I do recommend checking out several other languages (Java, Lua, JavaScript, Smalltalk) and paradigms (AOP, traits) for further inspiration.

First, the good: this is a fine place to get into the nitty gritty of object oriented programming in Python. The author really knows his stuff, and it's quite apparent in the book. This book would be one of the first that would come to mind if someone was looking for a reference for how Python handles Object Oriented programming.

Unfortunately, I'm starting to think Packt publishing can't create a coherent book. Case in point: Chapters 8 and 9 talk about Design Patterns. These are slightly more advanced topics than the normal fare of the rest of the book. However, Chapter 10 begins discussing Files and Strings. What? Shouldn't that have been covered more in the front of the book? Then Chapter 11 puts in an obligatory Test Driven Development chapter, only to close out with Chapter 12's look at some other libraries in Python 3.

Up until Chapter 10, this book feels like a solid and coherent whole. Had someone put chapter 10 more towards the front of the book, this would be approaching the five star mark.

One part that I particularly had trouble with were the decorators as explained in the book. Maybe it was me making them harder than they needed to be, but a little more explanation would have set me off in the right direction.

This isn't to say that this is a bad book. I applaud Dusty for making a book about a singular topic with Python 3 that is readable, and very thorough. This is a great book. I just wish that Packt could make a tighter book that didn't feel like it was padded out to fill a page count.

I am reading the Kindle edition and it's starting to get difficult to follow the code listings, because the whitespace seems to have been ignored, with all the code left aligned without any indentation.

This is unacceptable, especially given that Python uses indentation to demarcate blocks of code!

This is by far the best programming book I have read yet, It is very easy to read but at the same time teaches you a lot of advanced topics. He does a very good job of teaching object oriented programming. I would highly recommend this book over other books on object oriented programming.

If you're interested in buying the book you should get the paperback because I got this for the iPad Kindle app and lots of pictures and graphs are missing. I hope for a fix/update, if there is such a thing for Kindle books. Very, very disappointed as this was one of my first buys for the Kindle app.

Disclaimer: I helped edit this book.

Packt tends to make low-quality Python books, so when they approached me to be an unpaid technical editor for this one, I thought it would be worthwhile to help them put out something that was good. I also thought it was time for me to start getting familiar with the new Python version. Fortunately, the author of the book has put together a really good tome. He covers when you'd want to use OOP, various programming patterns, the basics of Python 3 syntax, and gives the reader a taste of a set of 3rd party Python 3 packages. You can read my full review here: [...].