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Learning Python Second Edition

by Mark Lutz (Author), David Ascher (Author)
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 59 ratings
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Learning Python: Powerful Object-Oriented Programming
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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.

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  1. ISBN-10
    0596002815
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0596002817
  3. Edition
    Second
  4. Publisher
    O'Reilly Media
  5. Publication date
    January 2, 2004
  6. Language
    English
  7. Dimensions
    7 x 1.11 x 9.19 inches
  8. Print length
    624 pages
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

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

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ O'Reilly Media; Second edition (January 2, 2004)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 624 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0596002815
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0596002817
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.95 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7 x 1.11 x 9.19 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 59 ratings

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  1. Mark Lutz

    Mark Lutz

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    Mark Lutz is the author of Python's classic and foundational texts, a former trainer with two decades of experience teaching Python to newcomers, and one of the people responsible for the prominence that Python enjoys today. For more info, see the author's books and programming site at learning-python.com.

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  2. David Ascher

    David Ascher

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Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
59 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the book provides a thorough and extensive introduction to Python. They say it's an excellent start and not bad for the price. Opinions are mixed on the language content, with some finding it great and well-written, while others say there is little advice on how to use the language and the book isn't concise.

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Information qualityValue for moneyLanguage content
12 customers mention "Information quality"9 positive3 negative

Customers find the book's information quality good. They say it provides a thorough and extensive introduction written by a renowned authority. Readers also mention it's an excellent start, highly informative, and a good reference for beginners.

"...In other words, they take plenty of time to describe everything you need to know about everything in the language...." Read more

"...As such, it gives you a really thorough and extensive introduction written by a renowed authority...." Read more

"...I decided to move to Python...and this book is an excellent start...though it sounds like it is for beginners...it is nice to review the initial..." Read more

"...The organization of the book makes it a wonderful reference as well as an easy read...." Read more

3 customers mention "Value for money"3 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the value for money of the book. They mention it's not bad for the price.

"...already understand some base concepts makes it a wonderful, inexpensive intro/reference to/for Python for experienced developers." Read more

"It's a good book. Absolutely worth the money if you're leaning Python. It has tutorials and explains things nicely...." Read more

"...Great price! Arrived in great shape. Thanks." Read more

13 customers mention "Language content"8 positive5 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the language content of the book. Some mention it's well-written and covers the core language well. Others say there is little advice on how to use the language, the book isn't concise, and poorly explained terminology.

"This is simply a stellar introduction to the Python language, for both newcomers to programming and those who are already proficient in another..." Read more

"...this book is not your best choice: it will seem terribly slow paced, tedious, bloated and of no value as a reference..." Read more

"...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..." Read more

"...IPv4 client/server.This is a great read, especially if you are used to theO'Reilly format of editing and layout...." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

John Salerno
5.0 out of 5 stars This should be your first Python book!
Reviewed in the United States on March 8, 2006
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This is simply a stellar introduction to the Python language, for both newcomers to programming and those who are already proficient in another language. I know there are several choices for 'beginning' type Python books, and you may be tempted to choose a different one because it is newer than this one, but please understand that you lose nothing by reading this book instead. It covers Python 2.3 (which is just short of the current 2.4), and there are only a couple of items not referred to (e.g. decorators and decimals). But you can easily read up on the latest features online. The benefits of this book far outweigh the fact that it was published a few years ago!

Here is the true advantage of Learning Python: the authors describe the language in complete detail from the ground up. They begin with how to use the interactive interpreter and IDLE, and then move on to built-in data types. Every single thing that could be considered a 'component' of the Python language gets its own chapter (numbers, strings, lists, etc.), and the larger components (functions, modules, classes, etc.) each get their own Part (which is further divided into chapters). In other words, they take plenty of time to describe everything you need to know about everything in the language. You won't finish learning the core language until well into the 400-range of pages.

Another intro Python book that I just began reading has already covered numbers, arithmetic operators, functions, modules, and a few other things, all by page 20! I won't name the book yet, because I'm not fairly deep enough in it yet. But this is certainly not good for a newcomer.

Don't even wonder about other books! Learning Python covers every aspect of the language in great detail, yet at the same time remains intelligent (e.g. it does not explain to you what variables in general are (hopefully you have a basic understanding of programming already), but it explains in great detail what variables *in Python* are). After you read this book, you will have an amazing foundation in Python.
8 people found this helpful
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Jack Sparrow
4.0 out of 5 stars Thorough introduction but slow and not good for reference
Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2005
Verified Purchase
Update for the 2009 edition: Mr Lutz has really gone overboard. This "learning" book has became heavier than Python itself. The size of the book detracts from the spirit of Python, which fortunately remains a compact and simple language as intended. I believe that many computer-literate people will find it easier and definitely quicker to just start coding in Python and read a documentation page now and then rather than read this book. Busy programmers who reported writing their first useful Python class in a few hours would need weeks to do the same while reading this book. Mr Lutz, let's be pythonic and scale this tome back to 500 pages, shall we?

The rest of the review is about the second edition:
I would never try to use this book as a reference. It was not designed and it's not good for that.

It was designed as your first book on Python, especially if this is your first programming language. As such, it gives you a really thorough and extensive introduction written by a renowed authority. The parts on functional programming, Python's OOP and modules lay the solid foundation for the future Python programmer. Beware though: compared to similar "foundation" books in other languages' realms, this one is slow-paced, limited in scope, wordy and even redundant at times.

If you already know a language like C++, Java or Perl, and especially if you've already written some Python code, then this book is not your best choice: it will seem terribly slow paced, tedious, bloated and of no value as a reference (which is what an experienced programmer like you really needs most of the time). In this case, you could use a short and freely available tutorial like Guido's, then a good reference book like Python in a Nutshell and maybe some more advanced books like Python Cookbook and Python 2.1 Bible (provided there will be a new edition).

As an intermediate or experienced programmer, you may still benefit from Lutz's "textbook". You may want to skim quickly through the first 3 Parts (which make 180 pages of beginner's stuff you've learned in highschool, decorated with the occasional gem toward the end of some chapters), then slow down a bit for the rest of the book and pay special attention to chapters 14, 17, 18, 21, 22, 23, and 27. This book has too many chapters for my taste, btw.

Part VIII, written by another authority (David Ascher), is a little too short and still bad for reference. In the next edition, I hope it will be expanded to a reasonable level of detail. I found the coverage of regular expressions particularly disappointing -- probably because they are covered by Mr Lutz's other book, Programming Python, which was supposed to be your second book. The exercises at the end of each Part are not the most interesting and useful I know of.
17 people found this helpful
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Wayne Folta
5.0 out of 5 stars Good even for experienced...
Reviewed in the United States on January 26, 2004
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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!)
134 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Antoine
5.0 out of 5 stars Très didactique
Reviewed in France on September 14, 2015
Verified Purchase
Bon ouvrage d'introduction à Python.
Les concepts sont présentés clairement et les exemples sont bien choisis.
La partie dédiée à Ttinker est elle réellement pauvre.
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W. O. Smith
4.0 out of 5 stars Slow moving for those with previous programming experience.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 5, 2005
Verified Purchase
If, like me and many other programmers, you are already somewhat familiar with C++ and Perl, you'll find this book slow moving. I would guess that few people start with Python as their first major programming language.
I'm about 40% through the book and we've only just covered function calls, and nothing OO. There's only been 4 or 5 new concepts so far that aren't identical to other common languages.
The author does go some way towards saying "this is similar to the C idea of ..." or "those familiar with C++ will recognise the similarities...". But what would be really useful would be a big bar next to the few concepts that are fundamentally different, saying "!!!Python Specific!!!" or something.
Having said that, there's few typos and the writing style is reasonable. I'd like to give it 3.5 stars really.
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KarEl BrightShooster
5.0 out of 5 stars Geht tief und ist faszinierend
Reviewed in Germany on July 7, 2004
Verified Purchase
Hallo,
eigentlich wollt ich mir dieses Buch nicht kaufen, da ich doch einige Kritiken las, die die erste Ausgabe 1999 gekauft hatten und mit der zweiten Auflage dann unzufrieden waren.
Aber für mich als Erstbetrachter der 2.Auflage bot sich eine total andere Sicht. Ich muss einfach sagen das die Aufteilung, die Formatierung, die Beispiele, der Umfang und die Gründlichkeit dieses Buch sehr wertvoll machen.
Man macht auf jeden fall einen gründlichen, interessanten Einstieg. Ich möchte gar keine Seite auslassen, es ist einfach zu spannend.
Habe schon Bücher über Perl, C++, Bash mir zugelegt aber dieses liegt einfach an der Spitze. Natürlich fliesst auch dabei ein dass Pythen übersichtlich und mächtig ist.
Also super gelungen und vor allem für Neulinge ( auch nicht ganz so neue ) die den ersten Band noch nicht gelesen haben absolut super.
Ein Genuss
Carl r.
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