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Python Cookbook First Edition

by Alex Martelli (Editor), David Ascher (Editor)
3.7 3.7 out of 5 stars 14 ratings
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Python Distilled (Developer's Library)
Python Distilled (Developer's Library)
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Demonstrates the programming language's strength as a Web development tool, covering syntax, data types, built-ins, the Python standard module library, and real world examples.
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  1. ISBN-10
    0596001673
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0596001674
  3. Edition
    First Edition
  4. Publisher
    O'Reilly Media
  5. Publication date
    July 1, 2002
  6. Language
    English
  7. Dimensions
    7 x 1 x 9 inches
  8. Print length
    606 pages
  9. See all details
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Amazon First Reads | Editors' picks at exclusive prices

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Alex Martelli spent 8 years with IBM Research, winning three Outstanding Technical Achievement Awards. He then spent 13 as a Senior Software Consultant at think3 inc, developing libraries, network protocols, GUI engines, event frameworks, and web access frontends. He has also taught programming languages, development methods, and numerical computing at Ferrara University and other venues. He's a C++ MVP for Brainbench, and a member of the Python Software Foundation. He currently works for AB Strakt, a Python-centered software house in Gteborg, Sweden, mostly by telecommuting from his home in Bologna, Italy. Alex's proudest achievement is the articles that appeared in Bridge World (January/February 2000), which were hailed as giant steps towards solving issues that had haunted contract bridge theoreticians for decades.

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; First Edition (July 1, 2002)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 606 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0596001673
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0596001674
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.85 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7 x 1 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.7 3.7 out of 5 stars 14 ratings

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Customer reviews

3.7 out of 5 stars
14 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Ales Kavsek
5.0 out of 5 stars Cookbook every Pythoner should have
Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2004
Verified Purchase
This book is based on ActiveState on-line library of python recipes which were selected and edited by two well known experts, industry veteran Alex Martelli and David Ascher, with the help from other Python experts.
Recipes are organized in seventeen chapters. Chapters begin with short introduction on the topic covered, and is well worth the reading alone (even if you're primarily interested on a specific recipe take the time and read the introduction text). Each recipe is comprised of four sections: Problem definition -> Solution (code) -> Discussion -> Pointers to other relevant recipes or material.
No matter how proficient you're at coding in Python you'll certainly found some useful tips, new approaches or coding techniques. Usually technical books have strong and weak parts which I point out in my reviews, this one is different. As someone before me stated, this book is all meat and no fat. What else do you want from your diet?
9 people found this helpful
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Geneva
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on May 15, 2015
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Brand new book in excellent condition, fast shipping. THANKS!
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Alessandro Bottoni
5.0 out of 5 stars Valuable tricks&tips from _real_ Python experts
Reviewed in the United States on October 11, 2002
Of the many successes of Python, this is the least known but one of the most impressive: it has gained the affection and the respect of a hard guy like Alex Martelli. That is not an easy task for a small, interpreted programming language like Python.
When I first met Alex Martelli, at Think3, he was one of the oldest and most experienced programmers of the company, a programmer who had already used most of the existing languages and had used these languages for the development of large and complex applications, the kind of projects that took months or years to complete. He knew Perl very, _very_ well and was used to rely on a robust, elegant and sophisticated language like C++ for the development of his applications (like Think3's Thinkdesign, a very complex 3D CAD program). He was writing a _lot_ of software, using a large array of different languages and tools. He was a well respected internal consultant at Think3, charged to solve difficult problems related to the software architecture of the program being developed. He was not an easy guy to impress with "yet another small language".
Despite this, Python has gained some room in his heart. I consider this fact as one of the most significant success of this elegant and powerfull language. To be completely honest, I'm not completely surprised by this ending.
Alex Martelli is the kind of scientist and professional that appreciate elegance, wherever he can see it. The taste for elegance, the ability to take pleasure in elegance, is an important part of the scientist and engineer personality. It is hard to be a really good software professional without having any kind of interest for elegance. When you need a simple tool that can face complex problems, you are asking for elegance. When you need a language that leave you with maintenable code, you are asking for elegance. When you want a single language for a wide array of applications, you are asking for elegance. Python can supply you with all the elegance you can ever ask for.
Alex's and David's book is a collection of good techniques that you can use to face a large set of problems with Python, from text transformation to GUI building to OpenGL grahics. You will not find here an introductory book, rather you will find a good second-reading book, the kind of book that can take you from the beginner level to the advanced. It is also the kind of book that can widen your knowledge of the Python world, showing you how this modern language can easily deal with problems that you usually face with C++ or the like.
If you are looking for an introductory book, buy "Learning Python" by Mark Lutz and David Ascher: it is the best one for this task. If you already know Python, buy this book and see how much you still do not know about it.
77 people found this helpful
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njbulitka
4.0 out of 5 stars Python Cookbook
Reviewed in the United States on February 11, 2005
This book nicely complements "Learning Python" by giving the reader a wide exposure to how Python can be used to solve common problems. The text is more than a list of recipes. A discussion section follows each code snippet. This is useful since the code is actually explained as opposed to simply being listed. The book is well laid out and has a decent amount of white space in the margins for notes. A more exhaustive index would have made finding a particular example easier, although having said that, the Table of Contents is well laid out. I highly recommend "Python Cookbook" not only as a book to show how specific problems can be solved using Python, but as showing alternative approach.
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Edward K. Ream
5.0 out of 5 stars Superb collection of useful snippets
Reviewed in the United States on October 11, 2002
This book is a superbly edited collection of recipes that originally appeared online containing corrections and updates to the programs, much added discussion, many additional recipes, and fourteen extended chapter introductions. Each snippet is first briefly introduced, then completely and clearly discussed at length. The explanations are easy for beginners to understand, without being in the least condescending, while offering a huge feast for more experienced programmers.
This book has garnered rave reviews on comp.lang.python, the internet newsgroup devoted to Python. Some examples:
"The book is uniformly fantastic, congratulations to the authors!"
"I should note that this is not much like a usual Cookbook, which offers quick "do things this way" recipes to follow, almost blindly. Instead it offers deep discussions of various approaches and uses state-of-the-art techniques (e.g., list comprehensions) that may not be at all obvious to newcomers."
"I would recommend something like Learning Python as a first book. But then Python Cookbook is the second book to get, or the first for those who have been with the language a while."
"I am sure it will be a long time before I have exhausted it. As someone whose recipes were accepted for publication I can only say that, given all the changes and enhancements, the editors were generous in their credits."
"You could actually leave out the code, change the title to 'The Python Philosophy' and still have a really valuable book."
To which the reply was:
"Nowhere quite as valuable, in my humble opinion. It's not just the 200+ recipes, it's the numerous snippets that show very directly how to do one thing or another... then, sure, the text can also be quite helpful by showing what is going on, what's preferable under what conditions, and so on..."
The general consensus seems to be summed up in this posting:
"If you are serious about Python then get this book."
To which I replied:
"I couldn't agree more. I won't embarrass myself by telling all the things I learned in the first chapter. This really is an awe-inspiring book for the breadth of its coverage and the complete excellence of its presentation. The authors and especially the editors deserve the highest praise. Even when explaining the most elementary topics the editors manage to be interesting and even surprising. I have already turned down the corners dozens of pages that I want to study in detail. In short, this is just a superb job. It shows the power of a community of users enhanced by the editing of all-stars."
About the reviewer: Edward K. Ream has more than 30 years of programming experience and is the author of a major application written in 100% pure Python. While working on this project he has benefited greatly from the help given on comp.lang.python, often by the contributors and editors of the Python Cookbook.
13 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Winston Smith
5.0 out of 5 stars Broad, but organized
Reviewed in Canada on June 8, 2012
Verified Purchase
Like all O'Reilly texts, this one is well-written and easy to use. I bought it to improve my Python skills and to be able to look at quality examples of common Python applications. It also explains common pitfalls. Obviously this is not a text useful for learning the basics to Python (there's another great O'Reilly text for that).
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Meemaw
5.0 out of 5 stars Replacement for Pythonn & AWS cookbook which I ordered by mistake.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 5, 2013
Verified Purchase
I have no knowledge of this item. It was a gift for my grandson at University and was sent direct to him. However it arrived within the times given and was in good order.
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kpl1949
2.0 out of 5 stars Vorsicht: Nur Python Version 2 !
Reviewed in Germany on January 14, 2023
Verified Purchase
Schade, der Bucheinband sieht optisch fast exakt wie die spätere Neuauflage aus, die auch das relevante Python3 behandelt. Faktisch daher nur von begrenztem Wert.
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P. E. Jacobs
5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent resource
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 25, 2003
Verified Purchase
This book has earned a spot within arms reach of my computer.
An excellent source of facts, ideas, and inspiration - exactly what a cookbook should be.
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