Python How to Program, 1/e [Paperback]

Harvey M. Deitel (Author), Paul J. Deitel (Author), Jonathan P. Liperi (Author), Ben Wiedermann (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0130923613 | ISBN-13: 978-0130923615 | Publication Date: February 14, 2002

Python's combination of exceptional power and simplicity has made it one of the world's fastest growing programming languages. Now, there's a comprehensive, hands-on introduction to Python from the Deitels, leading corporate trainers and authors of the best selling How to Program books. Like all of the Deitels' How to Program books, Python How to Program features the Deitels' signature Live-CodeÀTM Approach: thousands of lines of live code, explained with exceptional clarity by the renowned programming trainers of Deitel & Associates.Python How to Program covers all facets of the Python language, from syntax to object-oriented development, CGI to XML, wireless programming to DB-API database integration. Coverage includes Python GUI development, regular expressions, file processing, exceptions, threads, networking, security, data structures, and much more. The book contains hundreds of real-world tips and techniques for writing high quality code, improving performance and reliability, and efficient debugging. A  link to the Web's best Python demos and all of the book's source code, up-to-date Python development tools.For new and experienced developers who want to master Python and object-oriented development quickly; Python developers who want to deepen their skills; and Web professionals who want to leverage Python's full power in Web, XML, and wireless applications.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

The authoritative DEITEL^™ LIVE-CODE^™ introduction to Python programming

This new book by the world's leading programming language textbook authors carefully explains how to use Python as a general-purpose programming language and how to program multi-tier, client/server, database-intensive, Internet- and Web-based applications.

Dr. Harvey M. Deitel and Paul J. Deitel are the founders of Deitel & Associates, Inc., the internationally-recognized corporate-training and content-creation organization specializing in Python, Visual Basic^® .NET, C#, Visual C++^® .NET, Java^™, C++, C, XML, Perl, Internet, Web, wireless and object technologies. The Deitels are the authors of several worldwide #1 programming-language textbooks, including Java How to Program, 4/e, C++ How to Program, 3/e and Internet & World Wide Web How to Program, 2/e.

In Python How to Program, the Deitels and their colleagues, Jonathan Liperi and Ben Wiedermann, discuss topics you need to build complete Web-based applications, including:

• HTML/XHTML^™/CSS^™
• Python Server Pages/CGI
• Networking/Sockets
• GUI/Tkinter/Python Mega Widgets
• PyOpenGL/Multimedia/Accessibility
• Databases/DB-API/SQL
• File Processing/Serialization
• Modules/Classes/Class Attributes
• Class Customization/Method Overriding
• Control Structures/Functions/Inheritance
• String Manipulation/Regular Expressions
• Lists/Tuples/Dictionaries/Data Structures
• Process Management/Multithreading
• Interprocess Communication
• Exceptions/XML Processing
• Security/Restricted Execution

Python How to Program includes extensive pedagogic features:

• Hundreds of LIVE-CODE^™ programs with screen captures that show exact outputs
• World Wide Web and Internet resources to encourage further research
• Hundreds of tips, recommended practices and cautions—all marked with icons

Python How to Program is the centerpiece of a complete family of resources for teaching and learning Python, including Web sites (www.deitel.com, www.prenhall.com/deitel and www.InformIT.com/deitel) with the book's source-code examples and other information for faculty, students and professionals;(Python Multimedia Cyber Classroom) containing hyperlinks, solutions to half the book's exercises and audio walkthroughs of the book's code examples; and e-mail access to the authors at deitel@deitel

For information on worldwide Deitel on-site seminars and to subscribe to the Deitel Buzz e-mail newsletter, visit: www.deitel.com

For information on current and forthcoming Deitel/Prentice Hall publications including How to Program Series books, Multimedia Cyber Classrooms Complete Training Courses (which include DEITEL^™ books and Cyber Classrooms) and Web-Based Training Courses please see the last few pages of this book.

About the Author

Dr. Harvey M. Deitel, CEO and Chairman of Deitel & Associates, Inc., has 41 years experience in the computing field, including extensive industry and academic experience. Dr. Deitel earned B.S. and M.S. degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. from Boston University. He worked on the pioneering virtual-memory operating-systems projects at IBM and MIT that developed techniques now widely implemented in systems such as UNIX, Linux and Windows NT. He has 20 years of college teaching experience, including earning tenure and serving as the Chairman of the Computer Science Department at Boston College before founding Deitel & Associates, Inc., with his son, Paul J. Deitel. He is the author or co-author with Paul Deitel of several dozen books and multimedia packages and is writing many more. With translations published in Japanese, Russian, Spanish, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Korean, French, Polish, Italian and Portuguese, Dr. Deitel's texts have earned international recognition. Dr. Deitel has delivered hundreds of professional seminars to major corporations, government organizations and various branches of the military.

Paul J. Deitel, Executive Vice President and Chief Technical Officer of Deitel & Associates, Inc., is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sloan School of Management, where he studied Information Technology. Through Deitel & Associates, Inc., he has delivered Java, C, C++ and Internet and World Wide Web courses to industry clients including Compaq, Sun Microsystems, White Sands Missile Range, Rogue Wave Software, Boeing, Dell, Stratus, Fidelity, Cambridge Technology Partners, Open Environment Corporation, One Wave, Hyperion Software, Lucent Technologies, Adra Systems, Entergy, CableData Systems, NASA at the Kennedy Space Center, the National Severe Storm Laboratory, IBM and many other organizations. He has lectured on C++ and Java for the Boston Chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery and has taught satellite-based Java courses through a cooperative venture of Deitel & Associates, Inc., Prentice Hall and the Technology Education Network. He and his father, Dr. Harvey M. Deitel, are the world's best-selling Computer Science textbook authors.

Jonathan Liperi is a senior at Boston University where he has been accepted into the Computer Science department's BA/MA program. He will earn his Master's degree in Computer Science in May 2003. His coursework has included advanced algorithms, queueing theory, computer architecture, computer networks, artificial intelligence, computer graphics, database systems, software engineering and various programming courses (C, C++, Python and Java).

Ben Wiedermann graduated from Boston University magna cum laude with a degree in Computer Science and a minor in Theater Arts. Ben plans to pursue post-graduate work in programming-language theory. Other Deitel publications to which he has contributed include Java How to Program, Fourth Edition; C++ How to Program, Third Edition; Perl How to Program; Internet and World Wide Web How to Program, Second Edition; XML How to Program; e-Business & e-Commerce How to Program and C How to Program, Third Edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 1376 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall (February 14, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0130923613
• ISBN-13: 978-0130923615
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.1 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #395,562 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

75 of 93 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A Recipe for Disaster, September 28, 2003

By 

Peter Norvig (Palo Alto, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Python How to Program, 1/e (Paperback)

Previously, I reviewed the "Java How to Program" book and found it to be a terrible waste, sure to take all the fun and creativity out of programming. So when I saw this book on the shelf, I flipped through it, hoping that the free-wheeling nature of Python might have lead the Deitels towards a more enlightened approach to instruction. I quickly found that this book has many lessons to teach (although few that I would agree with). For example:

* Python programmers are NOT having more fun than Java (or other) programmers; all languages are equally stultifying.

* Learning a language is a tedious task, centered around learning features of the syntax in a prescribed order. (This is like learning to cook by trying ingredients one at a time in alphabetical order, without ever trying to put together something tasty.)

* The practice of programming has no underlying principles, only an endless series of tips presented in overly-garish multicolor pages. (You'd be better off with a single chapter of "Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs" than with anything in this book.)

* Programming is inherently boring, involving endless repetitive typing; it is better for the programmer to do a lot of work than to expect the computer to. For example, consider this example from chapter 4 (Fig 4.7):

===================================

import random

frequency1 = 0
frequency2 = 0
frequency3 = 0
frequency4 = 0
frequency5 = 0
frequency6 = 0

for roll in range( 1, 6001 ): # 6000 die rolls
___face = random.randrange( 1, 7 )

___if face == 1: # frequency counted
______frequency1 += 1
___elif face == 2:
______frequency2 += 1
___elif face == 3:
______frequency3 += 1
___elif face == 4:
______frequency4 += 1
___elif face == 5:
______frequency5 += 1
___elif face == 6:
______frequency6 += 1
___else: # simple error handling
______print "should never get here!"

print "Face %13s" % "Frequency"
print " 1 %13d" % frequency1
print " 2 %13d" % frequency2
print " 3 %13d" % frequency3
print " 4 %13d" % frequency4
print " 5 %13d" % frequency5
print " 6 %13d" % frequency6

===================================

(Note I use "_" for blank because Amazon won't indent code properly.) This is 30 lines (42 if you count the copyright notice) for something that a grade-schooler could tell you (I know -- I asked one) is better done with 7 lines:

import random

def roll(n, sides=6):
____freq = [0] * sides
____for roll in range(n):
________freq[random.randrange(sides)] += 1
____return freq

print roll(6000)

I find it a case of unconscionable student-abuse to present examples like this, but I suppose the Deitels had their reasons: perhaps they hadn't introduced lists (or functions) yet. Perhaps lists (or functions) didn't fit readily into their idea of the right order to learn concepts in BASIC (which must therefore be the best order to learn concepts in every other language).

If you want to learn Python, or learn to Program with Python as your first language, try another book such as "Learning Python" or "Programming Python".

If you want to ensure that you won't appreciate why Python is the way it is and why it is interesting; if you want to be bored and avoid learning how to do something creative, by all means stick to this book.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointment, May 6, 2005

By 

Jon-Pierre Gentil (Austin, TX, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Python How to Program, 1/e (Paperback)

I purchased Deitel & Deitel's C++ How to Program book long ago, and found it to be comprehensive and extrordinarily helpful.

When I picked up Python How to Program, I expected the same incredible experience. Instead, I was sorely disappointed by their complete lack of Pythonic thinking. It seems as if they took one of their other How to Program books and ran a code converter across it to migrate it to Python. As a previous reviewer pointed out, some of the examples are horrificly implemented, a clear case of programming in Python with the "C/C++ mentality."

The examples seemed fun, but no amount of fun can compensate for the fact that this book teaches you nothing about how to truely be a Python programmer. Anyone can read the lexical syntax descriptions on the python.org website and code the examples in this book. It gives me the feeling that Harvey Deitel did not learn Python for any reason other than to write an expensive book about it, and has no idea how to actually use the language.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars really quite good, July 26, 2002

By 

R. Andrews (Madison, MS United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Python How to Program, 1/e (Paperback)

I was also a technical reviewer for the book, and really liked it. Even considering the price of the book, I think it's quite valuable, because it explains the basics of so many topics in a manner that makes sense. If you are new to programming and would like to try out different things to see what you might like, such as web programming, XML, designing windows (lowercase 'w') that will work on a variety of platforms, databases, sockets, etc., you may find that this book provides material you would otherwise look through a literal stack of books to find. No programming book is perfect, but I think this one is pretty good.