Computers
O'Reilly Media; Fifth Edition edition (July 6, 2013)
July 6, 2013
1594
Get a comprehensive, in-depth introduction to the core Python language with this hands-on book. Based on author Mark Lutz's popular training course, this updated fifth edition will help you quickly write efficient, high-quality code with Python. It's an ideal way to begin, whether you're new to programming or a professional developer versed in other languages. Complete with quizzes, exercises, and helpful illustrations, this easy-to-follow, self-paced tutorial gets you started with both Python 2.7 and 3.3 - the latest releases in the 3.X and 2.X lines-plus all other releases in common use today. You'll also learn some advanced language features that recently have become more common in Python code.
Whether you new to the language and want to learn Python or you know the language and want to learn Python, this is the book for you. Having cut my teeth on Perl and PHP, I was no stranger to “scripting” languages when I picked up the second edition of this book to teach myself Python. At 1600 pages, the size of the book might intimidate new programmers, but the author, Mark Lutz, takes great pains to explain both the Python paradigm and programing syntax in easy to understand language and with accessible examples. That’s not to say he glosses over topics that are of interest to more advanced programmers. Rather, he starts with the fundamentals, introducing advanced topics only to the degree necessary initially, and then delving much deeper into them as the book progresses and the reader becomes more comfortable in the Python environment. While the author claims this book is meant to be a learning aid and not a reference, after all of these years it continues to be my go-to resource when I have a question about something or need a refresher on a specific Python topic.