Python Pocket Reference (Pocket Reference (O'Reilly)) [Paperback]

Mark Lutz (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0596009402 | ISBN-13: 978-0596009403 | Publication Date: March 3, 2005 | Edition: 3

Python is optimized for quality, productivity, portability, and integration. Hundreds of thousands of Python developers around the world rely on Python for general-purpose tasks, Internet scripting, systems programming, user interfaces, and product customization. Available on all major computing platforms, including commercial versions of Unix, Linux, Windows, and Mac OS X, Python is portable, powerful and remarkable easy to use.

With its convenient, quick-reference format, Python Pocket Reference, 3rd Edition is the perfect on-the-job reference. More importantly, it's now been refreshed to cover the language's latest release, Python 2.4. For experienced Python developers, this book is a compact toolbox that delivers need-to-know information at the flip of a page. This third edition also includes an easy-lookup index to help developers find answers fast!

Python 2.4 is more than just optimization and library enhancements; it's also chock full of bug fixes and upgrades. And these changes are addressed in the Python Pocket Reference, 3rd Edition. New language features, new and upgraded built-ins, and new and upgraded modules and packages--they're all clarified in detail.

The Python Pocket Reference, 3rd Edition serves as the perfect companion to Learning Python and Programming Python.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Mark Lutz is the world leader in Python training, the author of Python's earliest and best-selling texts, and a pioneering figure in the Python community since 1992. He is also the author of O'Reilly's Programming Python and Python Pocket Reference, and Learning Python (all in 4th Editions). Mark can be reached on the web at www.rmi.net/~lutz.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media; 3 edition (March 3, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0596009402
• ISBN-13: 978-0596009403
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #950,556 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Object achieved, June 26, 2005

By 

C. M. Lowry (Columbia JUG, Columbia, SC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Python Pocket Reference (Pocket Reference (O'Reilly)) (Paperback)

While this is not the tool for learning Python, it is a valuable reference. It is amazing how much information that is packed into this small format. Toss it into your laptop bag for a quick reference, particularly since the third edition contains an index and covers Python 2.4.

With so many useful applications using Python as a macro language (e.g. Testmaker), this handy reference will earn its keep. I wonder if O'Reilly has a Ruby on the way, since they have mastered the format.

Of course, there is always the online documentation, if you are online.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great reference - now with an index!, November 21, 2007

By 

J. A. Rodriguez (Queretaro, Mexico) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Python Pocket Reference (Pocket Reference (O'Reilly)) (Paperback)

I read various reviews complaining about the lack of an index. Well, it does have one now and it complements perfectly what is a fantastic quick reference for many of your Python needs, from built-in modules to regular expressions. Of course, it does not include the formal grammar of the language, a complete reference of libraries available or anything other than quick pointers for someone who already knows what Python is but is not a guru yet (although anyone can forget how to open a file from time to time).

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Meets its goals, September 24, 2007

By 

wiredweird "wiredweird" (Earth, or somewhere nearby) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Python Pocket Reference (Pocket Reference (O'Reilly)) (Paperback)

This is a great book for anyone who uses Python, especially for programmers at that level of Python competence after the beginner stage but short of a master's fluency. It provides a brief but clearly organized summary of Python basics: the language, primitive data structures, printf and other control codes, and the basic, everyday subset of the support libraries. And, since the editors apparently listened to criticism of earlier editions, the third editions includes a useful index as well as table of contents.

Some readers will be disappointed that it's not the book that it never meant to be. It never meant to be a tutorial or text book, it never meant to be a full specification of the language and libraries, and it never meant to be an encyclopedic description of the many available libraries. Decide what you want: if that's a quick reminder of Python's most useful basics, then this book will meet your needs.

-- wiredweird