Is it any good?

[Simon Foster]

Hello list,

I wonder if I could get some feedback from the list on a Python book I'm
about to order from the net. The book is called "Python How to Program" by
Deithel & Deithel. Issued on Prentice Hall 2002. I'm not an experienced
Python programmer and I'm looking for a comprehensive but also an
"understandable" book. I'm also open for suggestions.

Best regards

Tim Ronning

I have seen it, and I don't like it, in fact I'm not very keen on any
of the Deitel and Deitel books, so that's -1 from me. I would
recommend "Learning Python" as a first book, but that's quite old now,
maybe someone has a more up-to-date recommendation. If you are an
experienced programmer (but new to Python) then there's plenty of
material in "Python in a Nuthell".

 

[Simon Foster]

I have seen it, and I don't like it, in fact I'm not very keen on any
of the Deitel and Deitel books, so that's -1 from me. I would
recommend "Learning Python" as a first book, but that's quite old now,
maybe someone has a more up-to-date recommendation. If you are an
experienced programmer (but new to Python) then there's plenty of
material in "Python in a Nuthell".

PS. It looks like the 2nd edition of "Learning Python" will be out in
December. You can have a look at the O'Reilly website for details:

http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/lpython2/

 

[Tim Ronning]

Hello list,

I wonder if I could get some feedback from the list on a Python book I'm
about to order from the net. The book is called "Python How to Program" by
Deithel & Deithel. Issued on Prentice Hall 2002. I'm not an experienced
Python programmer and I'm looking for a comprehensive but also an
"understandable" book. I'm also open for suggestions.

Best regards

Tim Ronning

 

[Tux]

Hello list,

I wonder if I could get some feedback from the list on a Python book I'm
about to order from the net. The book is called "Python How to Program" by
Deithel & Deithel. Issued on Prentice Hall 2002. I'm not an experienced
Python programmer and I'm looking for a comprehensive but also an
"understandable" book. I'm also open for suggestions.

Best regards

Tim Ronning

I highly recommend the Visual Quickstart Guide book titled Python by Chris
Fehily. It's very clear, with lots and lots of good, short illustrative
examples. It doesn't cover everything, but is an excellent starter book,
and once you've covered the material it present, you'll probably be able to
get whatever else you need from the online docs at python.org.

Mike

 

[Jules Dubois]

On Tue, 28 Oct 2003 00:47:01 +0100, in article

The book is called "Python How to Program" by
Deithel & Deithel. Issued on Prentice Hall 2002.

Deitel and Deitel have a mixed reputation. I've heard a few more negative
comments about their other books than I've heard postive comments.

I'm not an experienced
Python programmer and I'm looking for a comprehensive but also an
"understandable" book. I'm also open for suggestions.

Are you an experienced programmer? If so, I recommend _Python in a
Nutshell_, by Alex Martelli. I think it's one of the best technical
references available on any programming subject.

It's well-written and it's as comprehensive as you're going to get in a
book. Unfortunately for books, new versions of the software may be
published at a much quicker rate than new versions of the books covering
them. For a reference, you could also print some of the nice documentation
available for Python. I paid ~US$60 for the ~1000 pages I took to a local
printer.

Is it understandable? Definitely. However, it's not an introductory
programming text. (Even experienced programmers may find some topics
suitable for "Guru Meditation." I still have trouble with Custom
Meta-Classes in Chapter 5, but that's just me.)

If you don't consider yourself an experienced programmer, have you looked
at _Learning Python_ and/or _Programming Python_, both published by
O'Reilly and Associates?

 

[Alan Gauld]

I wonder if I could get some feedback from the list on a Python book I'm
about to order from the net. The book is called "Python How to Program" by
Deithel & Deithel. Issued on Prentice Hall 2002. I'm not an experienced
Python programmer and I'm looking for a comprehensive but also an
"understandable" book. I'm also open for suggestions.

I have the Deitel book and find it good as an intro to a huge
range of topics - maybe the only book on pyGame? - but in each
case it (infuriatingly) stops just at the point where I need
more. In other words it gives enough to get you interested in a
topic but not quite enough to use as a reference for real work.
Given the size of the book and its scope that's not surprising
and as a taster its fine.

The basic Python coverage is better elsewhere but if you only
want one book on Python and are happy digging detail online then
its probably OK.

An alternative (and no more expensive) is a combination of a
basic tutor (Quick Python, Learning Python if you already can
program, my book or Ivan van Lanningham's if you can't) to get
started plus something like Programming Python or Text Processing
in Python or one of the Python Web/XML books - whatever your
specialism is likely to be....

Alan G.
Author of the Learn to Program website
http://www.freenetpages.co.uk/hp/alan.gauld

 

[rzed]

Simon Foster wrote:
[snippage]

If you
are an experienced programmer (but new to Python) then there's
plenty of material in "Python in a Nuthell".

Written by some Lisp practitioner, I assume? But I like the name; I
myself am a user of Python in a nuthell.