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ukleafs's review against another edition
4.0
Very good step by step introduction to Python with plenty of examples and lots of good exercises to get you thinking and problem solving. Perhaps a bit to involved for absolute beginners though.
kartik's review against another edition
5.0
A very good book for beginners to Python or programming in general. Exercises seem pretty interesting. The best part about the book is that it introduces common idioms and patterns in a beginner's text in a pretty comprehensible way. Other part is the coverage from most common Python constructs to a bit about GUI and even pickling.
mark_lm's review against another edition
3.0
I do a lot of statistics, but I use mostly frequentist techniques - Bayesian techniques usually seem to me like more trouble than they are worth, so I wanted to read the author's "Think Bayes", also published in paperback by O'Reilly, but all the code in it is Python. So I got this first. I have been coding since 1971, and at this late stage, most programming languages bore me - I'm almost always more interested in the interface, and I have used Hypercard and Realbasic (now Xojo) for that reason. Anyway, this book is pretty good. My only complaint is that it doesn't actually tell you the nitty-gritty of getting started in Python - that it comes with the Mac operating system (but isn't version 3), and that you can use IDLE, and how other IDE's work etc. Fortunately, in modern times, if you just go to the Python web site, or better, to YouTube, you can find a lot of very good instructional material and fill in the blanks.
mokasin's review against another edition
5.0
Unlike many boring books about Python this one is very interesting and helpful.
erinstewart's review against another edition
5.0
- it's free!!!
- fun word play exercises (a lot of programming exercises are maths problems which I don't enjoy as much)
- fun Monty Python references
- fun word play exercises (a lot of programming exercises are maths problems which I don't enjoy as much)
- fun Monty Python references
brizreading's review against another edition
4.0
First few chapters, I was like, "Duh, self-evident."
Next few chapters, I was like, "Ooh."
Last few chapters, I was like, "...What?"
Yeah, so Python is great. Flexible, durable, like Wolverine's adamantium claws. Can it do anything? Perhaps yes. Maybe we can replace our eco-system with Python and just be done with it.
Highly recommended, especially as a companion piece to Udacity's (wonderful) Intro to Python Programming course, which was bite-sized, basic, and clarified a lot of that Class stuff. (Which was sometimes mysterious in the book.)
I second the request for more (more more) exercises, more code examples, more hands-on stuff. It gets a bit too heady otherwise.
Next few chapters, I was like, "Ooh."
Last few chapters, I was like, "...What?"
Yeah, so Python is great. Flexible, durable, like Wolverine's adamantium claws. Can it do anything? Perhaps yes. Maybe we can replace our eco-system with Python and just be done with it.
Highly recommended, especially as a companion piece to Udacity's (wonderful) Intro to Python Programming course, which was bite-sized, basic, and clarified a lot of that Class stuff. (Which was sometimes mysterious in the book.)
I second the request for more (more more) exercises, more code examples, more hands-on stuff. It gets a bit too heady otherwise.
selaraby's review against another edition
4.0
A good introductory book in programming with Python. It is highly detailed with many examples. I recommend it to very beginners in Python and programming in general. It would be a little bit silly and useless for advanced programmers.
nairia's review against another edition
4.0
Very clear for all of those wanting to start on their first programming language
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