O'Reilly Media, Learning Python, 3rd Edition by O'Reilly Media, Product Tags: learning, learning python, learning python 3rd, python, python 3rd, python 3rd edition	Rating:  Read Reviews (124) Write Comments/Review Price Drop Alert Add to my Wish List Tag This Product

Compare Prices from 1 Stores:

Sort by:   Featured Stores (default) Price (low to high) Price (high to low) Store Name (A-Z) Store Name (Z-A)

Seller	Name	Price	Coupons / Promotions	More Information
	Amazon Market Place	$20.97
	Amazon.com	$26.39

Current User Reviews:	Back to top
More Review Pages:    << Prev  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15   Next >>
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful: (3rd. ed.)Best way to learn Python 6/26/2008 I used to say that there were several good books for learning Python. You just had to browse them and choose what works for you. Not anymore. This third edition, along with coverage of Python2.5, adds dark tabs for the exercises at the ends of most chapters, and I think that many people can now learn the language by just trying the exercises and comparing with the answers in the back. The sidebars are interesting. The tables are clear. The examples are instructive. The typesetting is well-chosen. Despite all the materials availabe free on the web, this book is worth the price. Thank You. Was this review helpful?
4 of 6 people found the following review helpful: Get the Learning Perl book authors to write about Python 6/21/2008 I've been wanting to learn Python for a while. Hearing that the 3rd edition of Learning Python had added "exercises", I ordered it. It was a mistake. The book winds its way through each facet of the language one by one, making no attempt to integrate what you are supposed to be learning into a working, functional solid. The exercises consist of simple parrot questions: "Name the four major components of the module search path." Even the major exercises are childish. After the chapter "Advanced Function Topics", write a function which prints its single argument. Then try passing it more than one argument, or no arguments, to see what happens! The code examples are never more than five lines, usually initialization of a variable, then a toy operation on that variable, with in-line comments taking the place of actual demonstration. A particularly choice tidbit comes when the author demonstrates making user-defined classes adopt the iteration protocol. He gives as an example a class which iterates over a predefined series of square numbers, then finishes the section with a note to the effect that such a simple procedure should really be programmed using a list comprehension. The author constantly urges the reader to try things in interactive mode, but he doesn't give much of an idea what to try. Of course the reader can make up exercises, or rewrite a old program, which is what I have resorted to, using this book as a reference manual, but that's hardly ideal. The author is an expert on Python, and I don't know anything yet; he should be directing my exploration of the language, not just handing me an atlas. I give this book credit for completeness and for clarity of explanation. The author lays out language features and tells you how they operate in a way that is easy to grasp. What he fails to do is to get the reader coding and actually using all the bits of the language, so that actual work can be done. He notes that the creator of Python has a mathematical background, which accounts for the consistency of the language design. It may also account for the lack of practical instruction. Thank You. Was this review helpful?
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful: Python is easy - well... 5/9/2008 Python has the reputation to be a language that is easy to learn. Well, why do you need a book more than 500 pages to only learn the language then? The answer is that even if you can learn the basics very fast, it has a lot of bells and whistles that can take time to master. This book covers only the language not the libraries, but covers it very well. Highly recommended reading once you'll want to use the language to write something bigger than a script of 10 lines. 4 stars only because I would have expected some exposure to the standard libraries as well for a book called "Learning Python" Thank You. Was this review helpful?
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful: I'm not impressed 5/3/2008 I'm talking about the 3rd edition. It's the first book about Python that I read, so I can't make a comparison. It may be just the best first book out there, but I'm not impressed. The book reads like a draft, not a book in its 3rd edition. The author just keeps repeating himself on minor points in subsections back and forth. It's 700 pages long, but I wish it were half the length, after cutting needless elaboration and repetition. Perhaps the older editions are more concise. On the other hand, we readers may not have a choice. Thank You. Was this review helpful?
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful: The Longest Short-way to Python 4/23/2008 If you are a top-down learner this book is not for you. You can safely pick "Dive into Python". However, if you are the bottom-up type, you will not regret. While the Python slogan promises "one way to do it", Mark Lutz will show you four, and explore every detail, like complex list comprehensions, closures and the diamond inheritance pattern. This is why you will wait 200 pages (exploring data types) until the introduction of the first Python statement, and 200 pages more for the first script. But if you cross the details, you will get excellent understandings of the core Python logic, which will save you countless debugging hours in the future. The OO part alone worth the entire book. It's going from the very basics of OO programming up to elementary design patterns and some advanced OO implementation issues in Python. One last caution: although 600 pages, this book should be really read cover to cover. It's a true tutorial, which gradually develops the major concepts (sequences, assignments, references, objects, namespaces etc) from the ground up, with (midterm?) exercises. Give yourself a few hours to really learn, exercise your brain (and fully grasp 100 ways to silently override your variables with namespace mistakes). It's a great book. Thank You. Was this review helpful?
More Review Pages:    << Prev  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15   Next >>

Share your Comments or Review about this Product:

Back to top

Title/Summary: Your Comments or Review about this product: Your Rating?       I own this product. I want this product. I recommend this product. By submitting this form you acknowledge that you, not Plaza101, is responsible for the contents of your submission. All user submitted content becomes the sole property of Plaza101.com. Plaza101.com reserves the right to use, edit or delete user submitted content at its discretion.

Similar Products:

1. Python Cookbook
2. Programming Python
3. Python in a Nutshell, Second Edition (In a Nutshell (O'Reilly))
4. Python Pocket Reference (Pocket Reference (O'Reilly))
5. Learning Perl, Second Edition

Note: Displayed Prices are subject to change without notice.
Please check the merchant website for final price before making a purchase.

Compare Prices and read Reviews for O'Reilly Media, Learning Python, 3rd Edition at Plaza101.com and find the best price. Plaza101 helps you save money every time you shop online for O'Reilly Media, Learning Python, 3rd Edition. Try this free shopping search service to compare products and stores to find the best online prices.