Product Description
Python is a remarkably powerful dynamic programming language that is used in a wide variety of application domains such as Web, database access, desktop GUIs, game and software development, and network programming. Fans of Python use the phrase "batteries included" to describe the standard library, which covers everything from asynchronous processing to zip files. The language itself is a flexible powerhouse that can handle practically any application domain. This task-based tutorial is for students with no programming experience as well as those programmers who have some experience with the programming language and now want to take their skills to the next level. The book walks a reader through all the fundamentals and then moves on to more advanced topics. It's a complete end-to-end tutorial and reference. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Go to [...] and download the free documents
I purchased this book when it came out because I was very interested in learning Python version 3.0.I previously had read the Quick Start for HTML and JavaScript and had high hopes for this book.However, it seemed as though the author downloaded the free python documents, picked some various topics and copy and pasted them into his book as a desk reference.I do give credit that the author uses more of the main stream syntax but doest really provide guidance for application use.The author also fails to explain a lot of the syntax at times which forced me to download the documents from [...].Therefore I cant recommend this for beginning programmers.Save your money, download the documents at [...], and go to Office Depot or Staples and print out what you need.

Short and sweet
A decent enough primer. Python is fun language to work with and this primer gets you going fast.

Informative, but not for the beginner
I've been hearing a lot about Python, its excellent syntax, and myriad of uses, so I decided to look for something to introduce me to the language. I ended up picking up Python: Visual QuickStart Guide because it's a light read and comes at a bargain bin price.

The book is written from the perspective that you're a complete beginner at Python. However, this tone makes a lot less sense as you go through the book; the book's examples seem to exist purely to demonstrate how the language's syntax looks. Indeed, there is very little practical application of anything you will learn from this book. It goes into minimal detail, and often what explanation it does offer is useless.

On the plus side, it is one of the first books on the shelves for Python 3. Anyone looking for a quick way to get up to date on Python 3 won't be disappointed. There's even a handy appendix highlighting the differences between Python 2 and Python 3. However, anyone just beginning Python who is looking for a comprehensive walkthrough of the language is going to be disappointed by this book. It amounts to little more than a syntax reference. I've read this book all the way through, and while I understand most of the language's syntax, I still have zero ability to build a Python application for any use. Many of the more in-depth features the book only mentions briefly, and usually only to tell you to check the official Python documentation online for more information, which to the beginner is absolutely useless since the official docs are highly technical and oriented toward a developer.

If you're looking for a book that's going to walk you through Python step by step, this is not your book. Not only is it about 180-pages light, but the text only takes up about half the page for some reason and it's a small sized book. There's less content in 180-pages of this book than there is in the first 60 of other programming books I own. It's a quick read and a great way to get started with Python and its basic syntax. However, taking your abilities further is best left to other, more complete books.

Great little guide
This is actually a very easy to read little text, packing a lot of information into a very small text.Highly recommended! ... Read more

Product Description

We are visual animals. But before we can see the world in its true splendor, our brains, just like our computers, have to sort and organize raw data, and then transform that data to produce new images of the world. Beginning Python Visualization: Crafting Visual Transformation Scripts talks about turning many types of small data sources into useful visual data. And you will learn Python as part of the bargain.

What you’ll learn

• Write ten lines of code and present visual information instead of data soup.
• Set up an open source environment ready for data visualization.
• Forget Excel: use Python.
• Learn numerical and textual processing.
• Draw graphs and plots based on textual and numerical data.
• Learn how to deal with images.

Customer Reviews (14)

Too basic
You can easily skip 80% of the book, read one chapter about visualization and skip the rest of it.

Excellent introduction to Python graphing and scientific data processing
This book is a well rounded introduction to processing, organizing and graphing scientific data using Python. I started using Python last year to manipulate engineering data to generate text-based reports and input files for other software. This book has helped me improve the techniques I use to organize and process data, and to generate more professional looking PDF-based reports with graphical plots to aid in interpreting results and for presentation of data to others.

The book covers not only graphing and visualization but all aspects of reading, organizing, and processing data. I found the hands-on examples to be very helpful. As someone who spends less than 10% of their time writing code I was amazed at the results I'm able to achieve using Python in a very short amount of time.

Easy Careful Guide to Graphing Scientific and Financial Data in Python
This excellent guide addresses a problem that has plagued programmers and the application users they serve since computers
have been applied to scientific problems and business analysis.In most programming environments, up to the availability
of the "batteries-included" Python-language, creating sophisticated graphics and charts has entailed reducing the results
of data analysis to a restricted format file that was then processed by an external program such as Excel or Gnuplot.
This required less efficient export and processing of files and learning the command language of another graphical program.
With the powerful built-in facilities of Python and the availability of modules and libraries like NumPY, PyLab and SciPy
all of this graphical analysis and plotting can be performed within a single easy to learn language environment.

This superior handbook provides all of the background necessary to perform sophisticated graphical displays and plotting of
textual,financial and scientific data.It provides a self-contained tutorial appropriate to anyone who has programmed in
another language describing the IDE and built-in tools available for Python, as well as a full chapter of practice in
Python programming for the experienced programmer, and the rest of this extensive volume provides graduated tutorials and
examples for graphical analysis, display, plotting and visualization with the Python language and readily available
Open-Source Modules and Libraries.

--Ira Laefsky
MSE/MBA HCI and IT Consultant

Very Disappointing
I was really excited to find this book, but was very disappointed when I got it.Most of the book is random trivia about Python - I don't consider parsing CSV files or displaying the Hebrew alphabet very relevant to visualization.If you need to learn Python, there are much better books for that.When this book finally does get to visualization, it only covers *extremely* basic 2d plotting and what they call image processing is less than trivial.I would certainly expect that a book on Python visualization would mention vtk ( with Python bindings ) and mayaVi.I know the title contains the word "beginning", but this book is a total waste of money.

Almost what I wanted it to be.
This book really has hit a gap in the market. A lot of my use for Python requires visualizing the output and this was the first Python text I bought. Shai Vaingast has a novel approach in writing this - he starts with an example of reading data from a handheld GPS. This book teaches Python by stealth, using useful examples and offering both shortcuts and 'the proper way' to do things. It has chapters presenting the NumPy module and the SciPy module, as well as a brief introduction to the plotting library MatPlotLib.

The examples are all useful, and I've only found one that doesn't work as written in the book (because the web is fluent and the url for retrieving NASDAQ data has presumably changed). Given that the title is 'Beginning Python Visualization', I'd expected more on actually visualizing my data. Hopefully the next edition will have more of this, but the book is still really useful for someone new to Python. It's not a technical reference: this book is about learning.

Beginning Python Visualization is a great text for those new to data analysis and visualization in Python. I was left wanting more from this book though. ... Read more

Product Description
Computer programming is a skill that can bring great enjoyment from the creativity involved in designing and implementing a solution to a problem.This classroom-tested and easy-to-follow textbook teaches the reader how to program using Python, an accessible language which can be learned incrementally.Through an extensive use of examples and practical exercises, students will learn to recognize and apply abstract patterns in programming, as well as how to inspect the state of a program using a debugger tool.Features: contains numerous examples and solved practice exercises designed for an interactive classroom environment; highlights several patterns which commonly appear in programs, and presents exercises that reinforce recognition and application of these patterns; introduces the use of a debugger, and includes supporting material that reveals how programs work; presents the Tkinter framework for building graphical user interface applications and event-driven programs; provides helpful additional resources for instructors at the associated website: http://cs.luther.edu/˜leekent/CS1.This hands-on textbook for active learning in the classroom will enable undergraduates in computer science to develop the necessary skills to begin developing their own programs.It employs Python as the introductory language due to the wealth of support available for programmers. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (13)

Good book
Maybe the comparission between bash features and python features are not very good.

When Autor try to demostrate python is better, he give some bad examples.

Seems like Autor doesn't like bash syntax. For various tasks bash is really better, because it was dessign for do it.

Later, the book is improved and give you some very good tips

Got me hooked on Python
I felt this was a much better book for me than two other Oreilly titles for picking up Python.That being said, I do believe having a background in another language (Perl/Bash/etc.) and being a Linux/*nix admin is required to get the most from it.

It gave great examples that made practical sense and covered a ton of topics.

My only knocks would be I wish the iPython chapter was not included and the final chapter "Pragmatic Examples" was extended.

If you have never used Perl, or another language, the intro section may not be enough to get you to follow along - that being said, most admins I'm sure have already been exposed to a language of some sort.

Not a bad book at all, but it didn't inspire me either
I have four Python books on my shelf. I like the language, at least in theory. It is easy to read, clear, and powerful. In practice, I really don't program much. I was hoping that this book might push me over the edge from writing shell and PHP scripts for my simple needs into Python land. So many of my friends love the language.

I read the book this week. There are a lot of great ideas in there that would be useful for a sysadmin. The examples chosen are generally practical and useful. I was a bit disappointed by the occasional typographical or capitalization error, especially in code examples and discussion, which are not uncommon in first edition books, but are generally uncommon from O'Reilly books. I also found the early emphasis on iPython to be a bit excessive.

This is a little shorter than my usual review, mainly because I can't think of much else to say about the text. It isn't bad, but it isn't great. A sysadmin who is motivated to use Python will find it useful as a foundation. A veteran Python programmer who wants to use the language for systems administration will probably find the book filled with stuff they could have figured out anyway. I wanted to love the book, but I didn't. I didn't hate the book, either. I just feel a bit "meh" about it.

A good book with some typos
I recently got my hands on a copy of "Python for Unix and Linux System Administration". After reading it, I felt the time I've invested in reading it was well spent. The author introduced the reader to many different situations where python would help make their lives as system administrators easier, without confusing the reader with some complex forms or statements. My feeling is that this book is aimed at people who want to use Python to solve their problems quickly and efficiently, but only have a limited experience with the language - and the books fits that purpose well with its rather superficial approach that the reader can later extend later on with various available resources. It would only be fair that I too mention some of the shortcomings that I noticed while reading this book.

Pros:
1) The author introduces the reader to ways that Python can be used.
2) Most of the time there will be more than one way to accomplish a task. The author at times presents a scenario and showed the reader how to do the same task with different modules. This places the choice of which to use back where it belongs, with the reader.
3) The book has a website (most do these days) where the code examples can be downloaded. http://py4sa.appspot.com/

Cons:
1) More time was spent on iPython than was really needed.
2) The case of a word is important in Python. For instance "import Sys" and "import sys" are two completely different things. There were quite a few occasions where a module name was used as the first word in the sentence and because of that it was capitalized.
3) There was once instance that I saw where a script example had no indentation at all. Trying to run it would have resulted in complete failure.
4) It would have been nice if the script examples were named instead of leaving it to the reader to figure it out based on the imports used in another example.

When all is said and done I think I would recommend the book to others if I knew that they had at least some background with Python. And I would highly recommend that they check the addendum and errata pages.

Examples aren't working
The example scripts in the PDF don't always work and have errors. Check out this snippet from page 210 of the PDF:

def create_checksum(path):
"""
Reads in file. Creates checksum of file line by line.
Returns complete checksum total for file.
"""
fp = open(path)
checksum = hashlib.md5()
while True:
buffer = fp.read(8192)
if not buffer:break
checksum.update(buffer)
fp.close()
checksum = checksum.digest()
return checksum
Here is an iterative example that uses this function with IPython to compare two files:
In [2]: from checksum import createChecksum

In [3]: if createChecksum("image1") == createChecksum("image2"):
...: print "True"
...:
...:
True
In [5]: if createChecksum("image1") == createChecksum("image_unique"):
print "True"
...:
...:

The first example defines create_checksum and the second calls createChecksum. But that's not all, the indentation is off and there is no main method in the first example. I'm spending more time figuring out why the examples don't work than learning Python. If you like proof reading and troubleshooting syntax, this is the book for you.

The book is supposed to have an image of all the scripts somewhere but there is not link in the PDF. At least not in the first 200 pages. ... Read more

Product Description

• This tutorial offers readers a thorough introduction to programming in Python 2.4, the portable, interpreted, object-oriented programming language that combines power with clear syntax
• Beginning programmers will quickly learn to develop robust, reliable, and reusable Python applications for Web development, scientific applications, and system tasks for users or administrators
• Discusses the basics of installing Python as well as the new features of Python release 2.4, which make it easier for users to create scientific and Web applications
• Features examples of various operating systems throughout the book, including Linux, Mac OS X/BSD, and Windows XP

Customer Reviews (9)

The most absurd examples ever!!
Really?! An Omelette is the best example you could come up with? fridge contents? types of cheese? wanted food? Who programs that stuff? Is that the level of abstract that your brain can handle? What is wrong with you authors?!

Somebody gave me this book for free. I just browsed through its first 70-80 pages. I am afraid I have to through it away! You know?! With the rest of the spoiled food!!!!!

Here is a suggestion to the authors. Pick up a Murach book to see how a programming book is written!!
Here is another suggestion to the authors. How about if you use something close to a real life application? like a teacher wants to keep record of its students grades, or a company needs to keeps track of its emplyees, salaries, etc.

Not authors
A choice excerpt:

"The best way to start writing a class is to decide what you want it to do. For this, a Python-based model
of refrigerator behaviors, Fridge, is the first thing, and it should be basic. While you're thinking about
it, focus on what you will need a particular Fridge object to do for your own purposes. You want
enough behaviors available that this object can be used to make food, yet you don't want to worry about
aspects of real-life refrigerators that won't be included in a simplified example, such as temperature, the
freezer, defrosting, and electricity--all of these are unnecessary details that would only complicate our
purpose here. For now, let's just add to the docstring for the Fridge class to define the behaviors that
you will be building soon."

Did an editor even look at this?

Introductory text
As you can guess from the name this is an introductory text.Check out Summerfield (Programming in Python 3) and Lutz (Learning Python) for reference texts. As an introduction the book does a good job. It is structured coherently and flows well. The writing style needs some improvement but if you can gloss over that then this book could be for you.

If you are an experienced programmer, this is NOT the book for you
It may be useful for someone learning Python as their introduction to programming.I've programmed in C for years.I was looking for an introductory book that would also be a good reference to the Python language.This is not it.Every time I go to the book to find something I come up empty and end up looking in the free download version of Learning Python.

below average book
The book is very annoying, actually i found the style of the authors rather heavy,easy topics are explained difficult to understand, which shows the luck of experience in writing technical books.This actually should be the difference between an Internet tutorial and a book.
... Read more

Product Description
This first introductory book designed to train novice programmers is based on a student course taught by the author, and has been optimized for biology students without previous experience in programming.
By interspersing theory chapters with numerous small and large programming exercises, the author quickly shows readers how to do their own programming, and throughout uses anecdotes and real-life examples from the biosciences to 'spice up' the text.
This practical book thus teaches essential programming skills for life scientists who want -- or need -- to write their own bioinformatics software tools. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

incomplete book,inpracticle for programming, lack of real stuffs
This book is a mess. It seems to be an unfinished book with many chapters absent. The organization of this book is poor. It has too much verbose and useless opinions without hitting the points. In a word, this book doesn't have many real contents. It's not worthy to buy this book.

Better book than reviews suggest
OK. So, this book is not a typical how-to guide or a standard reference book, in spite of the title. And this is kind of refreshing. In fact, the book does a good job of presenting useful information in an intellectually engaging and entertaining way.

The author points out in the introduction that his main topic is neither Python nor Bioinformatics. His central purpose seems to be to offer a useful conceptual framework -- with skill-building exercises -- for students (and scientists without a lot of programming experience) to use when they approach a problem whose solution requires a tool that isn't ready-made but might be custom made (or at least designed) by one with a rather basic programming skill set.

You can't take the sub-title literally or you'll end up disappointed with the book--as other reviewers seem to have been. In my mind, the practical application of the book's content is teaching solution-oriented thinking, with bioinformatics and Python as a case-study.

The book is not going to fit the needs of a person who would prefer the "For Dummies" format for speed of learning or a more technical, detail-driven book that leads to a specific outcome. It is probably most useful for one who, at the present moment, needs mainly to grasp the scope of what might be possible using a custom built solution.

This book is not for beginners
This book is not for beginners.
It reads more like an overview of programming languages in the context of bioinformatics.
It is also a bit biased with respect to preferences in languages.
Do not buy this book if you are trying to learn python unless you are an excellent programmer with broad knowledge of multiple programming languages.

Don't waste time or money on this book
If you are looking for a practical guide to learning python and bioinformatics this book is definitely not for you.It is filled with obscure latin phrasings and contains little to no useful information.It is of absolutely no practical value for anyone trying to gain an understanding of python.Please pass on this book.

: pass # No value here
On page 6, I immediately became suspicious of this book when the author states "Speaking for myself, it took me about two hours to learn PYTHON...."

That may well be true, but after reading the bulk of the book I started to wonder if this meant the author spent 2 hours getting a "Hello World" program to work and this is what "to learn PYTHON" referred to.

The book itself comes across as an attempt to take thematic elements of "Zen and the Art of Archery", "Write Great Code, Volume 1: Understanding the Machine", "Programming Language Pragmatics", and scatter about some quotes in Latin, philosophical snippets from Eastern and Western tradition, label chapters by pretentious names such "Chapter 3: Propedeutics", introduce a mascot for the book (a Cobra named Anna the hannah, which sits atop "catchy" and colloquial captions such as "Ready dude - beat me , break me!", and "Error in operator: add beer...") add two catchy words (Bioinformatics and Python) and purport to convey some useful knowledge in an overpriced volume that fails in just about every aspect except to show, what I see as, thinly disguised hubris.

If I were to approach Bioinformatics and Python, with the assumption that you are comfortable working in the life sciences, I would recommend "Python Scripting for Computational Science" and "Programming in Python 3: A Complete Introduction to the Python Language", and getting very familiar with NumPy.

Python is a great language, but depending on your application needs (i.e. for Bioinformatics don't hesitate to explore other less popular (at least in name recognition) but suitable languages such as Haskell and Lua or any other language that you find meets your needs. ... Read more

Product Description
Python Standard Library is an essential guide for serious Python programmers. In this book, author Fredrik Lundh, creator of the Python Imaging Library (PIL), delivers tested, accurate documentation of all the modules in the Python Standard Library, including basic support modules, operating system interfaces, network protocols, file formats, data conversions, threads and processes, and data storage. Supplementing this documentation are over 300 annotated example scripts using the modules.This book is based on the author's work with the Python newsgroup: he reviewed over 2500 questions and answers to that newsgroup in order to make sure the book covered what Python users really wanted to know. This version of the book covers Python 2.0, the first new major release of Python in four years.Amazon.com Review
Ideal for any working Python developer, Fredrik Lundh's Python Standard Library provides an excellent tour of some of the most important modules in today's Python 2.0 standard. Mixing sample code and plenty of expert advice, this title will be indispensable for programmers.

The book presents sample script code--written by a frequent contributor to Python newsgroups--for almost 200 of the built-in modules in Python 2.0 and shows how to solve common programming problems in Python. Instead of a function-based reference, you get sample scripts for a wide variety of solutions centering on different Python modules.

Early sections look at core modules for working with the operating system, math, and strings, among other functions. Material on Python's excellent support for files and directories will help you master the file system. Explanations of various encryption schemes will let you add security to your Python scripts.

Getting Python to multitask with multiple threads comes next, along with getting Python programs to communicate using pipes and signals. After the sample scripts for pickling Python objects to and from files, the book delves into modules that are geared toward today's Internet. First, there's coverage of Python's support for XML, HTML, and SGML, followed by a discussion of its extensive networking support for low-level sockets to high-level Internet protocols, including e-mail and FTP. Sample scripts for e-mail will be really useful for any Python programmer.

Later chapters provide coverage of internationalization support in Python and its support for multimedia. The book closes with material on platform-specific modules (which are specific to Unix and/or Windows) as well as modules that are obsolete but necessary to understanding legacy Python code.

There's a lot of expertise on display in Python Standard Library. The code does much of the talking in this example-packed text, which is sure to earn its place on any working Python programmer's bookshelf. --Richard Dragan

Topics covered:

• Introduction to the Python 2.0 standard modules
• Core modules (including modules for operating system functions, string, math, time, and garbage collection)
• File and directory modules
• Encryption and security modules
• Threads, processes, pipes, and signals in Python
• Persisting Python objects (marshalling and pickling objects)
• Python modules for XML, HTML, and SGML
• Modules for e-mail and news support
• Internet programming with Python (including sockets, a chat example, FTP, SMTP, IMAP, POP, and Telnet)
• Internationalization support
• Modules for multimedia support (image and sound files)
• Data storage in Python (with shelves)
• Python tools
• Platform-specific modules (including Unix- and Windows-specific modules)
• Miscellaneous and legacy Python modules

Customer Reviews (9)

Has been superceeded
I bought this book in 2004 when I was just starting to learn Python. I never once used it. Its not a bad book, just less useful now than in 2001.

The book covers Python 2.0. Anything before 2.2 for any Python book is probably not worth the trouble in 2006 and beyond.

When looking for information about a Python module I look in Alex Martelli's Nutshell book(2.2) and the go to the online Library Reference. The nutshell is good for background and examples and the Library Reference brings things up to 2.4.

If I am not quite sure what I am looking for then the Python Cookbook (2nd edition) is the most help.

Mark Pilgram's Dive into Python is a great, in-depth look at some of the more useful standard library modules.

I hope Alex Marelli updates his Nutsehell book for 2.4.

There are other good books for learning Python but the Nutshell(O'Reilly), Cookbook(O' Reilly), Library Reference(python.org), and Dive into Python(online or an Apress book) do the best job of covering the standard library,

One of the less useful books on Python, for me.
I am a relatively new programmer, who has used only Python and PHP to any significant extent, so ...

I have Python Essential Reference (1st. edition) and this book side-by-side on my shelf at work. I use Python Essential Reference and the online module documentation almost equally, and I almost never pick up this book.

Interesting, but not necessary
I was hoping for something along the lines of the book the "Standard C Library" book by P.J. Plauger.Unfortunately, this book is nowhere near as complete.Still, there are interesting and useful bits here and there, and it does serve as a decent supplement to the Python library book included in the distribution itself.

Nice Supplemental Text
This is a nice supplemental text for the Standard Library documentation.Sometimes you find yourself puzzled as to how a module is to be used, even after reading the documentation.This book provides a little extra help in that regards by providing concise examples that point you in the right direction.

I can't give it five stars because it is a little sparse for the price. Please be warned, the book is almost all code.Don't expect a great deal of explanatory text.

Good guide but not really a reference
This book isn't really a reference for the Python standard library - David Beazley's "Python Essential Reference" probably fills that gap better - but it is a very useful guide to what the library can be used for, with a comprehensive and motivated selection of code examples. ... Read more

Product Description
PYTHON 3 and C or C++ / Extending and Embedding Python (Python documentation MANUAL Part 5).Python is an easy to learn object-oriented programming language, which combines power with clear syntax. It has modules, classes, exceptions, very high level data types, and dynamic typing. Python is free software. It can be used with GNU (GNU/Linux), Unix, Microsoft Windows and many other systems.This is a printed softcover copy of the official Python documentation from the latest Python 3.0 distribution. For each copy sold $1 will be donated to the Python Software Foundation by the publisher.This book is part of a brand new six-part series of Python documentation books. Searching for "Python Documentation Manual" will show all six available books.ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Guido van Rossum, is the inventor of Python. Fred L. Drake, Jr. is the official editor of the Python documentation. ... Read more

Product Description
PYTHON/C API Manual - Python 3 (Python documentation MANUAL Part 4).Python is an easy to learn object-oriented programming language, which combines power with clear syntax. It has modules, classes, exceptions, very high level data types, and dynamic typing. Python is free software. It can be used with GNU (GNU/Linux), Unix, Microsoft Windows and many other systems.This is a printed softcover copy of the official Python documentation from the latest Python 3.0 distribution. For each copy sold $1 will be donated to the Python Software Foundation by the publisher.This book is part of a brand new six-part series of Python documentation books. Searching for "Python Documentation Manual" will show all six available books.ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Guido van Rossum, is the inventor of Python. Fred L. Drake, Jr. is the official editor of the Python documentation. ... Read more

Product Description
Python isn't just a tool for creating short Web scripts and simple prototypes: its advantages are equally compelling in large-scale development. In this book, Thomas Christopher shows developers the best ways to write large programs with Python, introducing powerful design patterns that deliver unprecedented levels of robustness, scalability, and reuse. Python Programming Patterns teaches both the Python programming language and how to "program in the large" in Python, using object-oriented techniques. Thomas Christopher demonstrates how to write Python code that leverages "programming-in-the-large" software structuring techniques, including modularization, toolkits, frameworks, abstract data types, and especially object-orientation. He presents more than 20 powerful object-oriented design patterns for Python, including creational, structural, and behavior patterns. The book includes detailed coverage of key topics such as persistence, concurrent programming, and metaprogramming (Python's term for reflection or introspection). Christopher also presents useful functional programming techniques, showing how to combine them with other techniques to make them even more valuable.For every enterprise developer who wants to use Python. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

I use the book quite often as a reference
Even though the book is light on true examination of the 20 object oriented patterns it contains, it is a great python book. I use the book as a reference and I must tell you that I feel that you get your moneys worth with this book, thus it gets 5 stars...

I don't understand the confusion
Alot of discussion has focused on the title of the book.So, it's not a classic "design patterns" book but if you take a second to look at the table of contents you'll figure that out pretty fast. The introduction even states the following in a section titled, "What the Book is Not" - "... this book cannot be a hard-core object-oriented design patterns book." I don't think that's a problem with this book.

What I think this book does well is cover alot of ground on writing python with some pretty good examples that go beyond the usual intro book stuff.There is talk of threads, regular expressions, abstract data types, modules etc... stuff you need to do real work but that usually gets left out.To me this is really a kind of python for programmers type book with some very good examples.If that's what you're looking for then check out the table of contents.I liked it.

Python Engineering...
Many of the reviewers here seem rightly disappointed that Python Programming Patterns is not a Design Patterns book rewritten with Python source examples.When I bought this I was expecting something similar, and was at first dismayed that PPP wasn't that book.But as I started to read through it, I realized that this was the first book I'd seen which actually focused on *Engineering* solid and comprehensive solutions in Python.If you want to know how to write a 'Hello Python' application, look elsewhere.For all the rest of us needing some insight into how best to apply Python to problems of any complexity, there is no more appropriate book out there.

Very disappointing
There is a need for a decent book on Python OOP and patterns, but this is not it.This book is simply a poor intro text with a some buzzwords slapped on the front cover.I have not found any of it useful.Try a google search instead.

Disappointing book, disappointing author
I was disappointed in this book for essentially the same reasons as Stephen Ferg (see his review dated Dec. 19/2001). I find that the book does not do justice to the 'Patterns' buzzword.

I suggest you read Stephen's review before you buy this book. I will not rewrite the same comments here. The reason I am writing this review is to say that I find unacceptable that the author would review his own book here, not clearly identify himself as the author, give it 5 stars, and be so vain in his review. I believe in modesty and letting the readers decide for themselves (isn't this what Amazon's review system is for?) as opposed to what the author has done here. Also, as of this writing there is only one person who voted Stephen's review to be 'not helpful' -- and I would not be surprised in the least if it was the author himself put in that vote..! ... Read more

Product Description
This manual is the definitive language reference for Python. It describes the syntax of Python and its built-in datatypes in depth.

Python is an interpreted object-oriented programming language, suitable for rapid application development and scripting. Python's syntax emphasizes readability, which reduces the cost of program maintenance.

This manual covers advanced topics, and is suitable for readers who need to be familiar with the details and rules of the Python language and its object system.A tutorial suitable for those new to Python is available in the companion volume "An Introduction to Python".The standard Python library is documented separately in "The Python Library Reference Manual". ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Concise and detailed
If you're looking for an introduction to Python or a how-to book, you're looking the wrong place. This assumes a fair degree of fluency in the language already. Once you understand the basic concepts and constructs of the language, however, this provides an indispensable guide to complete feature set and fussy bits of every language detail.

Power users and language contributors must have this book, even though this edition goes only up to v2.5. Beginners will find it a bit much, and not enough - but it was never meant for beginners, and they have plenty of other references to work with.

-- wiredweird

Excellent Concise Reference for Python
If you have worked with multiple languages and are somewhat familiar with BNF (or other syntax-description grammar), you will find this book to be a very handy reference for Python.If not, you will still find it an excellent reference for Python, but not as easily readable.

It is an excellent "reference" for the language and has material I did not find in a half-dozen other highly-rated books on Python.It is NOT a tutorial.

If you code in python
If you code in python... you should own this book.

Most concise and readable language implementation reference I've ever read.Doesn't get too far down into the details of the interpreter, while giving all the details an advanced programmer will need.

Pros:It takes four hours to read and will teach you things you weren't aware existed in the python language (well, unless you develop for cpython or something).

Cons:You might need a degree in CS to be able to read this book, it assumes a lot of knowledge.On the other hand, it's cheap, so if you don't understand it you didn't waste a lot of money. ... Read more

Product Description

Product Description
Ray Terrill's Python Programming with Oracle Database is a detailed exploration of the ways in which the Python programming language can be used to interact with the Oracle Relational Database Management System (RDBMS). As evidenced by the table of contents, the book covers the broad spectrum of Python/Oracle interactions, including standard SQL, PL/SQL, connecting as a SYSDBA user, and object-oriented database interactions. The book also takes time to provide primer sections for both the Python programming language and the Oracle Database, in the hopes of facilitating an easier learning experience for beginners to either discipline. This book provides information and examples not available in any other Python book. The examples are detailed enough to provide a solid understanding of the topics they're meant to reinforce, while being explained in thorough detail to ensure comprehension of key concepts. There is little doubt that the book will quickly pay for itself, as the reader stands to add valuable skills to their technical arsenal through the material covered throughout in each of the chapters. Topics covered in the book: Installation of Python/Required Software Modules; Python Introduction; Oracle Introduction; Using SQL with Python to Interact with Oracle; Performing DBA Tasks with the Oracle Database Using Python; Using PL/SQL with Python; Using an Object-Relational Mapper to Connect Python and Oracle. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

I hope second edition will be better!
Hands down this book deserves to be on the bookshelf of python & Oracle professional for one reason only - it's the only book that is trying to cover cx_Oracle in a systematic way. So why I gave only one star?
Out of 174 pages only 64 pages are truly dealing with the subject. It's closer to a white paper than a book -- python and Oracle introduction sections are pure filers in this book and should be completely removed in second edition. (This is handicap of most python related books, even the ones that are covering some specific area - they all waste trees for light and in many ways useless introduction sections.)
Instead another 150-200 "filer-free" pages dedicated to cx_Oracle and perhaps (less importantly) object relational mapper could be written instead.
Chapter 6 also needs a complete re-done -- simple HMTM report?, DDL source extract?,Cold backup script? would perhaps wow some DBA's in mid 90's. Common Ray I know you can do better than that! Oracle DBA who is writing his/her own cold backup scripts nowadays (even with python;-), should be fired at spot (the same is true for HTML report and DDL source extract scripts). I know that author intention was to show cx_Oracle usage and not to teach Oracle best practices, but picking some better examples than that would certainly appeal to more professionals (for example some tuning related visualization with matplotlib, some security checking routines, various trace files analyzes etc.).
On the technical part the book looks unprofessional thanks to white on black bitmap screen shots with code samples. Readability depends on (re)sizing factor of pictures, some code examples are barely readable. Common? Publisher should seriously rethink about their DTP skills and techniques.
Despite my harsh review I believe such book (Oracle - Python), if prepared as if it's not a school paper, is something that we badly need (I'm, sure Catherine Devlin help on this front would pay off ;-). ... Read more

Product Description
Learn to use Python, the object-oriented programming language, for CGI scripts, system administration, code generation, graphical user interfaces, file-format conversions, and other computational tasks. This books teaches intermediate and advanced programmers how to use Python to build Internet-enabled applications and the basic mechanisms it uses to transfer information across the Internet and the World Wide Web. HTTP, NNTY, and SMTP protocols, the Python/C API, and client/server Internet Protocols are fully covered, plus the CD-ROM includes the source code for all of the programs discussed in the book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

A masterpiece
Instead of giving this book an opportunity to become a best-seller, the publisher let it become out of print.An unfortunate effect is that my students could not buy the book, and have to share the library copies.This book is beautifully written, enormously useful and fun to read becauseof authors' good sense of humor.Chapter 7: "Generating HTML"gives one of the best introductions to object orientation and dynamicfeatures of Python.I urge the authors and the publisher to work quicklyto make the book available.

great book, the CD is out-of-date
Awesome book, I liked Chapter 3 which instantly gets you into useful programming stuff. The book also takes you from beginner-level to advanced stuff like extending and embedding python, sort of the python equivalent ofthe Perl camel book (programming perl) and panther book (advanced perlprogramming) rolled into one. I think there's enough stuff on netprogramming to justify the title.The CD-ROM in my copy of the book haspython 1.3, the current version is 1.5 something. The book too might bedated, but I skimmed the latest ORA python book, Learning Python, and Ithink this is more my speed.

Gentle Intro to Python.
The book's title probably has been chosen to attract attention. That said, it is an excellent book. The standard book, Programming Python by Mark Lutz, may bog neophytes down.

The first half of the book is anintroduction to the language and the second half applications looselyconnected to the Internet.

The language is worth knowing, but I'd haveliked a book with exercises.

Where's the Internet Programming part ???
I had read "Programming Python" (Mark Lutz) befrie getting this book, and I expected a lot more on network programming than what this book provides. I would definitely call the title "Internet Programming withPython" false advertising.

Aside from this (very annoying)shortcoming, the book might provide a good overview of the Pythonprogramming language. I didn't go over all the syntax, GUI and other topicsas I already had covered them in the other book.

I would recommendProgramming Python over this book.

This book does a good job explaining the basics of Python.
This book does an excellent job explaining how to use Python in general, including internet programming.It also includes a CD that enables the buyer to set up Python on their own system, be it Win95, Dos, Unix, etc. Unfortunately, this CD does not include a setup program.It does includesome instructions for setting it up, however, this is not a straightforwardprocess.I would recommend this book only for someone who has at leastlittle programming experience and knowledge of their operating system. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

useful book
i was using this book quite heavily for reference when i was programming in python.it was very useful and easy to find what i needed.the book was slightly worn, but i guess that is what is expected considering it was a used book.

poorly organized introduction to python
I thought this would be similar to Programming Perl, both a good introduction to the language *and* a decent reference.Unfortunately, it does neither task well.

It fails as a reference because 1) it is poorlyorganized: information on each concept (printing, for example), isscattered throughout the book; 2) the index is atrocious.There is no wayto find the key description of any part of the language using the index,and I often find important concepts in the book that are not in theindex.

The poor index, combined with the scattered organization, meansI'm constantly frustrated when I want to look up some particular element ofthe language.

As an introduction, the book is OK.I would have liked tosee some meatier code examples.As another reviewer mentioned, theexamples are more about the syntax of the language than actual applicationsthat you might learn from. This is a style point -- if you learn best fromlarge chunks of example code, this is not the book for you.

Also, keymodules (sys and math, for example) are barely mentioned.

--Pat /zippy@cs.brandeis.edu ... Read more

Product Description
Programming with Python is filled with practical applications and code to help you get up to speed with this innovative programming language. Browse the "recipes" of scripts and create programs faster and with less hassle. The included CD-ROM contains the Python code, programs, and the text of the book. Before you know it, you will have cross-platform program interfaces, a search engine for your Web site, and more programs than you would have thought possible. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Highly Disappointed
This book fails miserably. I was quite surprise how a professional writer put so little effort into this book; the end result is more of an beginning outline than a completed book: no overview, lack of focus, no apparent structure. The authors claim you can learn Python by reading over their 40 annotated scripts. First, the scripts are not fully explained; often no more than a few paragraphs. Second, the book does not document how any of the examples relate to the Python syntax. The documentation provided with the Python source code is better than this fruitless effort.

Superficial and Overpriced.
This book seems designed for programmers who have more money than time. It's presented in a quick, here's some code, you figure it out fashion. It reminds me of a college student's attempt to finish a term paper byspending the weekend surfing the net, doing a lot of cut & paste, andthrowing in a comment here and there to hold it together by . Not veryprofessional or satisfying.

Perhaps if this book had come out 3 years agoit could have filled some programmers need for a quick, high level overviewof Python. Today however, most of what is in this book is available forfree on the net and there are far better Python books to spend your moneyon.

If you're looking for a good introduction to Python, look somewhereelse. I recommend "Learning Python (Help for Programmers)" or,if you comfortable with the basics and prefer to learn by studying otherpeoples code, try "Python Annotated Archives" (which, unlike thisbook, really is annotated).

Shoddy editing?
OK, I just bought this book today and haven't even finished the whole thing, but based on what I've seen I may not (I actually wish I could return except I've opened the software).From what I've seen though:

Alot of code is HIGHLY inefficient....I've written code that does the samething with a third the number of lines.A lot of the code is just not wellthought out or thorough.For instance he provides code for convertingRoman numerals back to numbers, but it doesn't check for invalidcharacters.Additionally it doesn't check to make sure the characters arein the proper sequence -- what it does roughly, is if it finds an"I" it builds a math expression "+1", then"+5" for "V" "+10" for "X" and soforth.But what this would allow is an invalid roman numeral,"IL", to be turned into the number 51.

The author does pointout that he didn't necessarily write all the code, but for crying out loudhe should have checked it better.And there are other types of errors,such a multiple statements on the same line, without the necessaryseperator.The only reason I give it two stars is that I've gotten someinspiration for new (to me) ideas from it, but I can actually get that fromjust about any computer book.

PSThe code on the CD-ROM seems to be inUNIX format requiring unzipping using tar. ... Read more

Product Description
This clear and concise introduction to the Python language is aimed at readers who are already familiar with programming in at least one other language.The core features of Python are explained first and the features that Python shares with other languages are covered quickly -- while specific Python features are explained in more detail.With large application features that are uncommon in other languages, Python can greatly enhance the programming process.Also the python language's ability to be compiled into Java bytecode and to be extended with C or C++ makes it well suited for Web site construction and Internet related applications.The material on these processes has been contributed by professionals who make their living using Python in this way.The Python core language reference that concludes the book has been designed to get new Python users to an advanced level of programming.On-line author support available to book purchasers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

Excellent Tutorial for the Python Language
I have found this to be the best tutorial for the Python language of ten highly-rated books on Python that I've read.It is well-organized and presented in an interesting and very readable fashion.

Excellent intro, AND a good read
This is, I think, the best quick introduction to Python that you can get.I have nothing to add to the other reviews, except to emphasize that it is very readable.Many introductory books are hard to get through, simply because they are so dry and boring.This book, on the other hand, is very readable, and actually makes the process of reading about the language enjoyable.

If you are getting started with Python, I recommend this book, and also O'Reilly's "Python in a Nutshell".With those two books, you should have everything you need to get started.

Excelent introductory book
A book to get you up to speed in programming Python, plenty of examples and beautifully done, well crafted, easy to read, fast to get the information without many rereadings, great design and the most important, it does a superb job.

Probably the best introductory book to a subject i have.

Best Language Book Since Kernighan & Ritchie!
Excuse my enthusiasm, but this is one of the best software books I've ever read and I've been programming professionally for 16 years.I wanted to learn Python as a replacement for Perl so I bought all the O'Reilly books, which were OK but too chatty and disorganized for my taste.I picked up Quick Python and found myself reading it like a bestseller and I still reread it.I was amazed at its consistent clarity, depth and friendliness with lots of tight examples in a visually pleasing format.The authors don't just cover the material, they also let you in on the subtleties and gotchas that go unmentioned in a reference like Beazley's Python Essential Reference (which I also own but for me Quick Python works better most of the time).

Furthermore in order to explain Python well, the authors provide astute explanations of general programming topics such as exception handling, regular expressions, and the pros and cons of the current crop of popular programming languages.They also bring in experts, even Guido Van Rossum (the creator of Python), to write chapters on more advanced topics like JPython and Zope.

My only caveat is that this is not the best place for beginners to start--Lutz & Ascher's Learning Python would be better--but it is a good book for beginners to own and dip into as they develop.

Other reviewers have mentioned that Quick Python's coverage of Tkinter (the main Python GUI package) is thin and that's true, though somewhat understandable since Tkinter is quite a beast and whole books have been written that don't cover Tkinter or Tk all that well.I would dearly love to see Harms & McDonald bring their accessible, thorough-going approach to Tkinter and its extension, Python Megawidgets.

Great book for learning Python
This book is great for learning Python! Lots of concise information, clear definitions and step by step code examples...Highly Recommended. ... Read more

Product Description
Tutorial begins with coverage of some of the basics of Python programming. Using plenty of skill-building exercises and interactive programming sessions to help those new to programming develop an understanding of concepts and practical techniques. Softcover. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Very nice
The content of this book is excellent. I am a novice jython programmer and have been playing with jython for about three years. I have tried numerous tutorials and even have obtained jython books. This one is the best so far. It covers things I did not know existed in jython. The presentation of material is logical and follows a nice gradient of complexity. My only peeves are that the examples are sometimes erroneous and that my book did not come with the examples on disk.

I use this book as a reference
Not only did I write this book. I also use it for a reference.
I find it quite handy.

Very rough, distracting code samples but still worth a look
I've been banging around in this book for a few days now and feel compelled to let the potential buyers know a couple things if they are considering this book:

1) The code samples are atrocious but well documented. The indenting got fouled up on many of the soucrce code samples (typestting problem?) so as to confuse a python/jython novice like me. The author will occassionally show you a bit of source code and then show you output from the execution of what is clearly a different source file. This is very distracting and if I didn't already have some inkling of how Jython works I'd really have a hard time with this book. Sure seems a shame becuase the explanations of the source code are more complete than you'll find an a typical intro book and this is really very helpful in tracking down the author's/typsetters errors and getting the reader REALLY familiar with the inner workings of Jython. The Sample files on the author's website do help clear up the code errors in most cases.

2) Bear in mind that the author goes out of his way to familiarize you with the basics of Python, so he can get to the Java integration. For this reason the reader is really getting an introduction to Jython. This is ok since the author points this out in the opening of the book and guides you to pertinant sections if you have experience with Python, C++, Java or OOAD in general.

Had I to do it over again I probably would wait for a second edition with the code errors corrected. But if you really need a good low level intro to Python, this book, warts and all, has been more valuable than other titles that introduce the language. I attribute this to the really detailed 'plain english' explanations of the code.

To be fair I can't comment on the Java integration portions (the sample code or the writing) as I'm just finishing chapter 6, so I'm still learning about jython itself).

Straightforward, reader accessible text
Python Programming With The Java Class Libraries: A Tutorial For Building Web And Enterprise Applications With Python by Richard Hightower (CTO at Trivera Technologies) is a practical and completely user-friendly guide to teaching yourself to combine Python programming language with the more widely-used Java. This "user friendly" tutorial covers everything from Java and Python basics to advanced topics such as using Python and Java Swing to create GUI's, working with SQL and JDBC, applets for Python and Java, and much more. Step-by-step instructions, countless examples, and straightforward, reader accessible text makes Python Programming With The Java Class Libraries a superb and highly recommended resource for Python and Java programmers from all experience levels and backgrounds.

Not a bad book for a Jython kick-start
This book focuses heavily on demonstrating key concepts with the Jython interactive interpreter. While this method is not entirely without its drawbacks, it has the distinct benefit of letting you try out code one line or block at a time (which is one of my favorite benefits of Python in general).

Some books are noted for their depth, others for correctness, some for the range of concepts introduced, etc. And of these, I'd say that this book demonstrates the absolute basics of a wide range of Jython areas better than anything else I've read so far. It's the sort of book you can pick up, open to the middle of, and start coding quickly (assuming your system is set up properly, of course).

While there is room for improvement in future editions, this seems like a good first edition. ... Read more