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Editorial Reviews
Dive Into Python is a Python book for experienced programmers. Whether you're an experienced programmer looking to get into Python or grizzled Python veteran who remembers the days when you had to import the string module, Dive Into Python is your 'desert island' Python book. If you've never programmed before, Python is an excellent language to learn modern programming techniques. But this book should not be your starting point. Get "How to Think Like a Computer Scientist: Learning with Python" by Allen Downey, Jeffrey Elkner, Chris Meyers and learn the basics. Then dive into this book. Dive Into PYTHON was written by Mark Pilgram and is distributed under the GNU Free Documentation License. * Money raised from the sale of this book supports the development of free software and documentation.
Related Reviews
Great book & it comes for free!
I am definitely a C++ & Java aficionado (or bigot , you might say) but I think Python is one scripting language that is worth some studying. This book is a very clear, practically oriented introduction, best suited for people who already know how to program in some other language. It gives you a solid knowledge of Python fundamentals with an accent on parsing HTML and XML. Ah I forgot the best part... you do not have to buy the book! It is available for free download at diveintopython.org ... but the book is so good and the price so "right" that you might consider buying the hardcopy. Thank you Mark!
Great Book for Experienced Programmers
If you've never programmed before, Python is an excellent language to learn modern programming techniques. But this book should not be your starting point. Get "How to Think Like a Computer Scientist: Learning with Python" by Allen Downey, Jeffrey Elkner, Chris Meyers and learn the basics. Then dive into this book.
Mark Pilgrim is an extremely accessible author. He teaches by example. Each chapter teaches powerful techniques and Python idioms by creating a useful program. Anybody with programming experience should be able to follow the examples and learn the language - although a few visits to the Python website docs may help along the way.
Each example is brief and annotated. The annotations combine with explanatory text to reveal the power of this incredible programming language. Python runs on virtually any popular platform and can be downloaded for free. Mark's excellent work will help empower the reader to do useful things almost immediately.
One of the early example programs reads through a directory of MP3 files and lists the header information, such as artist, album, etc. This is accomplished with just a few lines of code.
Mark makes the point that everything in Python is an object. While this is not a text on hard-core object oriented programming, it is an excellent opportunity for the OOP beginner to get a handle on it.
Pilgrim also emphasizes good programming techniques, such as documentation and unit testing. In one of the later chapters he even creates a Python unit testing framework that works for testing Python code to see if it performs as expected. Again, this example is annotated, used to develop both the software engineering skill of unit testing AND properties of the Python language.
He also covers accessing websites and parsing HTML and XML code. This is just an introduction to these subjects. Those interested in learning this in depth will want to continue their reading with other books and web pages focused on these topics.
The book is not dry or boring. It is not a manual. It is an excellent example of how to use the language AND how to think like a master programmer. The latter is reason enough to buy the book even if you're familiar with Python and have been coding for years.
It's a fun read. It's a great second book for somebody learning to program. It's a powerful example for those wishing to improve their programming style and/or learn object programming. I cannot say enough good things about it.
Furthermore, Mark maintains a website and blog. His articles vary from technically dense to enticingly interesting. He's even responded to email I sent him. How many authors do that?
If you found your way to this page, GET THE BOOK! Being here is proof that it's a good match for you. And if you just want to learn to program and have no experience - get the book anyway, then get a more basic book to go with it. DIVE INTO PYTHON will make you a quality programmer if you work your way through it.
Mark Pilgrim is an extremely accessible author. He teaches by example. Each chapter teaches powerful techniques and Python idioms by creating a useful program. Anybody with programming experience should be able to follow the examples and learn the language - although a few visits to the Python website docs may help along the way.
Each example is brief and annotated. The annotations combine with explanatory text to reveal the power of this incredible programming language. Python runs on virtually any popular platform and can be downloaded for free. Mark's excellent work will help empower the reader to do useful things almost immediately.
One of the early example programs reads through a directory of MP3 files and lists the header information, such as artist, album, etc. This is accomplished with just a few lines of code.
Mark makes the point that everything in Python is an object. While this is not a text on hard-core object oriented programming, it is an excellent opportunity for the OOP beginner to get a handle on it.
Pilgrim also emphasizes good programming techniques, such as documentation and unit testing. In one of the later chapters he even creates a Python unit testing framework that works for testing Python code to see if it performs as expected. Again, this example is annotated, used to develop both the software engineering skill of unit testing AND properties of the Python language.
He also covers accessing websites and parsing HTML and XML code. This is just an introduction to these subjects. Those interested in learning this in depth will want to continue their reading with other books and web pages focused on these topics.
The book is not dry or boring. It is not a manual. It is an excellent example of how to use the language AND how to think like a master programmer. The latter is reason enough to buy the book even if you're familiar with Python and have been coding for years.
It's a fun read. It's a great second book for somebody learning to program. It's a powerful example for those wishing to improve their programming style and/or learn object programming. I cannot say enough good things about it.
Furthermore, Mark maintains a website and blog. His articles vary from technically dense to enticingly interesting. He's even responded to email I sent him. How many authors do that?
If you found your way to this page, GET THE BOOK! Being here is proof that it's a good match for you. And if you just want to learn to program and have no experience - get the book anyway, then get a more basic book to go with it. DIVE INTO PYTHON will make you a quality programmer if you work your way through it.
EXCELLENT intro to Python for programmers
If you are already a programmer by trade, but haven't yet started to learn Python, get this book either here or from the web site (just search to find it), and dive in. Each chapter starts with an small example program that actually does useful stuff, most of which is foreign to you when you start reading. A few pages later, you'll understand the whole program, and get a good feeling for what "Pythonic" programming is all about.
The author really understands the subject matter, and he really understands what is needed by readers who already have a strong programming background. Once you've worked your way through this book, you'll understand 1) Python, 2) Good programming practices in Python, and 3) Why Python has become such a success amongst professional programmers.
NOTE: If you don't already know programming, hold off on this book until later. If the whole topic of programming is brand new to you, go instead for Mark Lutz' book, "Learning Python (2nd edition)". Mark covers in great detail what could go wrong as you try things out. He insures you won't get lost. To do that, he has to be very explicit about everything. Experienced programmers don't need nearly so much detail, as they already know most of the stuff in the Lutz book, and will find themselves skipping trememdous amounts. These are the folks for whom this book is written.
I am finding this to be a great book for evangelization of others to the ranks of Python maniac.
Today's programming world has a multitude of languages to choose from. One recent up-and-comer is Python. Why? Mark Pilgrim gives a forceful presentation of its virtues.
Veterans of other languages will see here a reimplementation of many nice features of several languages. For example, C++ has its Standard Template Library. And the default Java installation comes replete with an extensive library. So too does Python. Pilgrim covers examples of key libraries in various chapters. Like one that knows HTML and another than can parse XML. So you don't have to go back to writing grungy low level code. And writing an XML parser is very tricky to get right. Java and C# programmers have also found introspection to be vital for writing more flexible and modular programs. So that one class can dynamically find another class's methods at runtime. Guess what? Python lets you do this too.
Python is also fully object oriented. Not bad for a 'mere' scripting language. Unlike some others, that are just weakly OO.
The style of the book is example-driven, with carefully chosen examples that introduce key sections of Python. In some way, like a bottoms-up approach. Pilgrim is forthright about the presentation; deliberately eshewing a more elegant, theoretical layout. Very nuts and bolts.
Veterans of other languages will see here a reimplementation of many nice features of several languages. For example, C++ has its Standard Template Library. And the default Java installation comes replete with an extensive library. So too does Python. Pilgrim covers examples of key libraries in various chapters. Like one that knows HTML and another than can parse XML. So you don't have to go back to writing grungy low level code. And writing an XML parser is very tricky to get right. Java and C# programmers have also found introspection to be vital for writing more flexible and modular programs. So that one class can dynamically find another class's methods at runtime. Guess what? Python lets you do this too.
Python is also fully object oriented. Not bad for a 'mere' scripting language. Unlike some others, that are just weakly OO.
The style of the book is example-driven, with carefully chosen examples that introduce key sections of Python. In some way, like a bottoms-up approach. Pilgrim is forthright about the presentation; deliberately eshewing a more elegant, theoretical layout. Very nuts and bolts.
This is one of the best practical programming books I've read in a while. Pilgrim combines interesting examples--not too trivial, not too involved--with crystal clear explanations. I learned a lot of interesting stuff about XML and SOAP that I didn't know before (not to mention Roman numerals) and it was entirely painless! The chapter on regular expressions is not to be missed.
This is not a book for Python beginners. If you haven't done any Python programming before, but are an experienced program, I'd read the excellent tutorial chapter in Beazley's Python Essential Reference (it shouldn't take more than half an hour) and then proceed to Pilgrim's book.
I do have a few minor complaints. Pilgrim has a fondness for and/or constructions that cause me headaches everytime I see them. (Personally, I think it's a defect of the language that "x or y" is equal to either x or y. Hey, Guido, why not just support the ? : ternary operator?) The chapter on refactoring is weak and the example of unittest seemed artificial to me. Also, I could have used a few less language dialect examples. But this book is so much better than any of the other language books I've read in the last few years, that it seems ungrateful to complaint about minor defects.
This is not a book for Python beginners. If you haven't done any Python programming before, but are an experienced program, I'd read the excellent tutorial chapter in Beazley's Python Essential Reference (it shouldn't take more than half an hour) and then proceed to Pilgrim's book.
I do have a few minor complaints. Pilgrim has a fondness for and/or constructions that cause me headaches everytime I see them. (Personally, I think it's a defect of the language that "x or y" is equal to either x or y. Hey, Guido, why not just support the ? : ternary operator?) The chapter on refactoring is weak and the example of unittest seemed artificial to me. Also, I could have used a few less language dialect examples. But this book is so much better than any of the other language books I've read in the last few years, that it seems ungrateful to complaint about minor defects.
Dive into Python moves quickly into Objects and puts them to use in processing XML, HTML, and making RPC/SOAP calls. Many of the more powerful Python features are exposed like introspection, streams, unit testing, and generators. In addition, many gems are dropped along the way(classes as behaiving like dict...). DIPy is really a concise, intensive immersion into deep Python very skillfully done.
The first time I read DIPy I was fascinated but knew I was missing a lot. I backtracked and read Beginning Python by Magnus Lie Hetland and some other basic Python books. DIPy does not dwell on the basics - it tells you once and expects you to make sure you understand before moving on.
I am reluctant to admit it but it wasn't untill the third read where everything made sense(Chapter 17 is especially wonderful). It also became clear that DIPy ventures where no other Python book goes and the author accomplished something extraordinary.
In short, DIPy was not a quick read but well worth the effort.
The first time I read DIPy I was fascinated but knew I was missing a lot. I backtracked and read Beginning Python by Magnus Lie Hetland and some other basic Python books. DIPy does not dwell on the basics - it tells you once and expects you to make sure you understand before moving on.
I am reluctant to admit it but it wasn't untill the third read where everything made sense(Chapter 17 is especially wonderful). It also became clear that DIPy ventures where no other Python book goes and the author accomplished something extraordinary.
In short, DIPy was not a quick read but well worth the effort.
The best introduction to Python out there
If you want to learn Python, this is the book you need. The author writes in a very clear and fluid way, so you'll never be bored. The exercises at the end of the chapters are also great.
Pretty much everyone who programs Python started with this book (the online version), so you can't go wrong, it's the Python "Bible".
Very nice.. I had to buy this one after having read the whole PDF version...
It's not a beginner's guide - but that was pretty obvious. I think it's unfair to take away stars for that. ESPECIALLY because everybody can preview the PDF version online!
It's not a beginner's guide - but that was pretty obvious. I think it's unfair to take away stars for that. ESPECIALLY because everybody can preview the PDF version online!
Good book, but don't get the Kindle Edition
There are multiple editions of this book, my comment specifically refers to one of the Kindle Editions:
Dive into Python
Briefly: don't get the Kindle edition. The point of Dive Into Python is to dive into code, presenting examples and discussing the examples. The Kindle edition is fatally flawed, in that the majority of the code is misformatted - it is wrapped into paragraphs is if it were text. This makes the code examples nearly unreadable, and they're the whole point of the Dive into Python book.
Dive into Python
Briefly: don't get the Kindle edition. The point of Dive Into Python is to dive into code, presenting examples and discussing the examples. The Kindle edition is fatally flawed, in that the majority of the code is misformatted - it is wrapped into paragraphs is if it were text. This makes the code examples nearly unreadable, and they're the whole point of the Dive into Python book.
An excellent and practical guide to Python
I discovered this book on the web where you can actually read it for free if you're so inclined. The online version is regularly updated by the author as recently as May of this year (2004). Kudos to the author for making it freely available! It's different than most books on programming languages in that each chapter shows you a useful little program and then proceeds to dissect it piece by piece. You don't actually need to know a scripting language already to understand what's being said but it's pretty essential that you know at least one OO language such as C++, Java or C# otherwise the concept of everything is an object and classes may confuse. Coming from a C++ programming background I had no trouble understanding the ideas put forth. The writing is refreshingly clear and concise with minimum waffle and I especially like that the example code is numbered at the end of each line. Comments on these lines are listed below as bullet points. I'm actually a game programmer by trade looking into Python as a possible AI scripting language. There's more than enough in this book to make me consider using Python for just this purpose. For those out there who want a explanation of how Python supports XML and HTML and other web services this book also scores highly. I might never have to write another XML parser again!
Pros:
1) The book does what the title promises - dives head in.
2) It introduces relatively wide range of topics in a readable manner.
3) Uses reasonably sized code examples
4) The writing is pretty clear and understandable
5) Has practical tidbits occasionally comparing similar functionality against C, C++, Java and Perl. Nice.
6) Provides links to further reading on a topic. Also very nice.
Cons:
1) Most topic discussions are a bit shallow and incomplete. For example it would be nice to present the reader with a comprehensive list of 'stuff' that may be done with a list, string, tuple, etc.
2) While there is a chapter on optimization, Mark doesn't mention the python profiler. I could live with that but there is no mentioning of python debugger (pdb) and there is nothing in the book about logging, either. These should not be considered 'advanced topics' and left out as they are helpful tool in learning any language (my opinion).
3) The book examples follow the 'Look at this cool yet obfuscated stuff I can do with Python - and oh, BTW, this is what it really means' methodology. While the follow-up discussions are reasonable, I would much more appreciate an explanation or at least mentioning of a concept before I get hit by a semi-cryptic line of code. On the other hand, the code is well annotated.
4) Mark uses repetitive examples to illustrate a point. 'This is how to do something', followed by 'This is how to do it better', followed by 'This is how to do it really well'. While illustrative of potential pitfalls, bugs or code deficiencies, this kind of writing makes it impractical to use the book as a reference. Open the book at the wrong page and follow the less than perfect example. Not a good thing. And boring - if I wanted to see it done the wrong way I'd use perl ;-).
5) Mark's statement that C++ virtual methods: 'confuse the hell out of me' (pg. 84) is rather amusing. I'd suggest to skip the amusement as it doesn't give a casual reader a whole lot of confidence in author's understanding of method overloading. Humor me some other ways.
However, this book is about Python, not C++, so I don't hold it against the author :)
In conclusion:
Quite reasonable book for the money, gets you a pretty good jumpstart. Coming from C/C++ background, general programming concepts are not totally lost on me and there are enough practical differences between Python and C++ that this book was worth the read.
The chapters on HTML, XML and SOAP were the primary reason I bought this book. Again, while not covered in depth, I got enough from them to get started with a small practical application.
If you're serious about developing any kind of meaningful code this is a reasonable start but you'll need to dig deeper.
I recently opted for buying Wesley Chun's Core Python Programming (2nd Edition) (Core Series) as it covers more topics in greater depth (it's the details that matter a lot) in quite comprehensive manner while still very understandable by a novice programmer.
O'Reilley's Python Cookbook by Alex Martelli et. al is also a very good complementary reading exposing quite imaginative ways of using even some very basic capabilities of Python.
1) The book does what the title promises - dives head in.
2) It introduces relatively wide range of topics in a readable manner.
3) Uses reasonably sized code examples
4) The writing is pretty clear and understandable
5) Has practical tidbits occasionally comparing similar functionality against C, C++, Java and Perl. Nice.
6) Provides links to further reading on a topic. Also very nice.
Cons:
1) Most topic discussions are a bit shallow and incomplete. For example it would be nice to present the reader with a comprehensive list of 'stuff' that may be done with a list, string, tuple, etc.
2) While there is a chapter on optimization, Mark doesn't mention the python profiler. I could live with that but there is no mentioning of python debugger (pdb) and there is nothing in the book about logging, either. These should not be considered 'advanced topics' and left out as they are helpful tool in learning any language (my opinion).
3) The book examples follow the 'Look at this cool yet obfuscated stuff I can do with Python - and oh, BTW, this is what it really means' methodology. While the follow-up discussions are reasonable, I would much more appreciate an explanation or at least mentioning of a concept before I get hit by a semi-cryptic line of code. On the other hand, the code is well annotated.
4) Mark uses repetitive examples to illustrate a point. 'This is how to do something', followed by 'This is how to do it better', followed by 'This is how to do it really well'. While illustrative of potential pitfalls, bugs or code deficiencies, this kind of writing makes it impractical to use the book as a reference. Open the book at the wrong page and follow the less than perfect example. Not a good thing. And boring - if I wanted to see it done the wrong way I'd use perl ;-).
5) Mark's statement that C++ virtual methods: 'confuse the hell out of me' (pg. 84) is rather amusing. I'd suggest to skip the amusement as it doesn't give a casual reader a whole lot of confidence in author's understanding of method overloading. Humor me some other ways.
However, this book is about Python, not C++, so I don't hold it against the author :)
In conclusion:
Quite reasonable book for the money, gets you a pretty good jumpstart. Coming from C/C++ background, general programming concepts are not totally lost on me and there are enough practical differences between Python and C++ that this book was worth the read.
The chapters on HTML, XML and SOAP were the primary reason I bought this book. Again, while not covered in depth, I got enough from them to get started with a small practical application.
If you're serious about developing any kind of meaningful code this is a reasonable start but you'll need to dig deeper.
I recently opted for buying Wesley Chun's Core Python Programming (2nd Edition) (Core Series) as it covers more topics in greater depth (it's the details that matter a lot) in quite comprehensive manner while still very understandable by a novice programmer.
O'Reilley's Python Cookbook by Alex Martelli et. al is also a very good complementary reading exposing quite imaginative ways of using even some very basic capabilities of Python.
Excellent gateway book for Python
Having learned Perl first in my programming career, I pretty much ignored Python from the start. Perl's "TMTOWTDI" (There's More Than One Way To Do It) philosophy, coupled with the strange (to me) way that Python enforced blocking (with indention) kept Python in my peripheral vision for quite some time. Over the years, I've become more and more curious about Python, and decided to give it a shot. After a little browsing, I chose the curiously titled Dive Into Python. Dive Into Python may be an old book (the book was originally published in 2004), but it still stands as a great gateway for programmers from other languages to get a good sense of what Python is and how they can apply their current knowledge to learning the Python language.
Dive Into Python is the name of author Mark Pilgrim's site for learning Python. The text of the book is available, as are links to other great resources for learning Python. I noticed no differences between the print version and the published version. I have to commend the author on making his book freely available in electronic form as well as print form because it allowed me the freedom to have the book with me wherever I needed it, and increased the value of the book.
One of the major strengths of Dive into Python is the author's use of other languages to teach Python. The book contains examples from Perl, Java and Visual Basic to elaborate concepts familiar to all four languages. This helped me to use my knowledge from these other languages to grasp both the similarities and differences between the languages. When discussing dictionaries in Python, the author gives three comparisons, starting with Perl: "A dictionary in Python is like a hash in Perl. In Perl, variables that store hashes always start with a % character. In Python, variables can be named anything, and Python keeps track of the datatype internally." Directly beneath that is the comparison for Java programmers: "A dictionary in Python is like an instance of the Hashtable class in Java." Visual Basic follows: "A dictionary in Python is like an instance of the Scripting.Dictionary object in Visual Basic." Other books have done this, but what makes this especially friendly is how the author separates this from the text, so you don't miss it. Each of these examples is in a bullet list, rather than embedded in the text for brevity (I can easily see an author abbreviating the above as "Perl uses hashes, Java uses Hashtables, and Visual Basic uses Scripting.Dictionary", which could easily be missed).
Dive Into Python is comprised of the the following chapters: Installing Python, Your First Python Program, Native Datatypes, The Power Of Introspection, Objects and Object-Orientation, Exceptions and File Handling, Regular Expressions, HTML Processing, XML Processing, Scripts and Streams, HTTP Web Services, SOAP Web Services, Unit Testing, Test-First Programming, Refactoring, Functional Programming, Dynamic functions, and Performance Tuning. Most chapters have a similar format, generally starting with code for a specific projects. As with most any book, these projects are canned projects, ranging from printing methods in doc strings, printing ID3 info in a directory of MP3 files, or doing a simple Google search from the command line. The examples are complete, working programs, and the introduction of foreign concepts explained in the chapter really helped my learning process out. My natural curiosity took over, so I would find myself flipping back and forth in the chapter to see where the line of code, or idiom was used in the beginning program and start understanding how and why that piece of code worked. The author also makes a point whenever he uses a particular idiom from Python to note the last time it was used, or where it was introduced. I found it exceptionally helpful, though the technique lends itself better to an electronic format than it does in a printed book. Another useful technique is the bulleted list. A quick (and very abridged) example would be where the author is initially describing lists:
>>> li = ["a", "b", "mpilgrim", "z", "example"] (1)
(later on in the example)
(1) First, you define a list of five elements. Note that they retain their original order. This is not an accident. A list is an ordered set of elements enclosed in square brackets.
The above example is just a small taste of the format. For me this was a very helpful approach to understanding what each line was doing, and allowed the author to show the code first, and then explain the parts he wanted to elaborate more in the bulleted lists.
Dive Into Python is an excellent tutorial for learning the Python Language. The author is quick to point out new concepts and idioms of the language in a way that is both clear and at times very witty. The author also conveys his enjoyment of the language in a non-threatening and patient way, which makes Dive Into Python an excellent tutorial for those who are, like me, already familiar with other languages, and want to know more about Python. My only complaint about Dive Into Python is that there hasn't been an update since 2004 to this great text. Perhaps when Python 3000 is released, the author will once again revisit this book. As it stands, I highly recommend anyone looking for a good introduction to Python check out Dive Into Python.
Dive Into Python is the name of author Mark Pilgrim's site for learning Python. The text of the book is available, as are links to other great resources for learning Python. I noticed no differences between the print version and the published version. I have to commend the author on making his book freely available in electronic form as well as print form because it allowed me the freedom to have the book with me wherever I needed it, and increased the value of the book.
One of the major strengths of Dive into Python is the author's use of other languages to teach Python. The book contains examples from Perl, Java and Visual Basic to elaborate concepts familiar to all four languages. This helped me to use my knowledge from these other languages to grasp both the similarities and differences between the languages. When discussing dictionaries in Python, the author gives three comparisons, starting with Perl: "A dictionary in Python is like a hash in Perl. In Perl, variables that store hashes always start with a % character. In Python, variables can be named anything, and Python keeps track of the datatype internally." Directly beneath that is the comparison for Java programmers: "A dictionary in Python is like an instance of the Hashtable class in Java." Visual Basic follows: "A dictionary in Python is like an instance of the Scripting.Dictionary object in Visual Basic." Other books have done this, but what makes this especially friendly is how the author separates this from the text, so you don't miss it. Each of these examples is in a bullet list, rather than embedded in the text for brevity (I can easily see an author abbreviating the above as "Perl uses hashes, Java uses Hashtables, and Visual Basic uses Scripting.Dictionary", which could easily be missed).
Dive Into Python is comprised of the the following chapters: Installing Python, Your First Python Program, Native Datatypes, The Power Of Introspection, Objects and Object-Orientation, Exceptions and File Handling, Regular Expressions, HTML Processing, XML Processing, Scripts and Streams, HTTP Web Services, SOAP Web Services, Unit Testing, Test-First Programming, Refactoring, Functional Programming, Dynamic functions, and Performance Tuning. Most chapters have a similar format, generally starting with code for a specific projects. As with most any book, these projects are canned projects, ranging from printing methods in doc strings, printing ID3 info in a directory of MP3 files, or doing a simple Google search from the command line. The examples are complete, working programs, and the introduction of foreign concepts explained in the chapter really helped my learning process out. My natural curiosity took over, so I would find myself flipping back and forth in the chapter to see where the line of code, or idiom was used in the beginning program and start understanding how and why that piece of code worked. The author also makes a point whenever he uses a particular idiom from Python to note the last time it was used, or where it was introduced. I found it exceptionally helpful, though the technique lends itself better to an electronic format than it does in a printed book. Another useful technique is the bulleted list. A quick (and very abridged) example would be where the author is initially describing lists:
>>> li = ["a", "b", "mpilgrim", "z", "example"] (1)
(later on in the example)
(1) First, you define a list of five elements. Note that they retain their original order. This is not an accident. A list is an ordered set of elements enclosed in square brackets.
The above example is just a small taste of the format. For me this was a very helpful approach to understanding what each line was doing, and allowed the author to show the code first, and then explain the parts he wanted to elaborate more in the bulleted lists.
Dive Into Python is an excellent tutorial for learning the Python Language. The author is quick to point out new concepts and idioms of the language in a way that is both clear and at times very witty. The author also conveys his enjoyment of the language in a non-threatening and patient way, which makes Dive Into Python an excellent tutorial for those who are, like me, already familiar with other languages, and want to know more about Python. My only complaint about Dive Into Python is that there hasn't been an update since 2004 to this great text. Perhaps when Python 3000 is released, the author will once again revisit this book. As it stands, I highly recommend anyone looking for a good introduction to Python check out Dive Into Python.
Fun introduction to Python for programmers
This is a fun introduction to Python that goes from installations, through the basics of the language, and into specific tasks. The text is built for programmers who already know a language. The type of reader who can handle a fairly terse text that assumes that you know the fundamentals of imperative programming languages (e.g. C, C++, Java, etc.).
I enjoyed the book a lot. The book gave me more credit than a book like Learning Python which starts at the very basics. And for a book of relatively few pages it gets into some cool topics like refactoring, unit tests, and functional programming very quickly.
If you want an introduction to Python that doesn't talk down to you then dive in Python here.
I enjoyed the book a lot. The book gave me more credit than a book like Learning Python which starts at the very basics. And for a book of relatively few pages it gets into some cool topics like refactoring, unit tests, and functional programming very quickly.
If you want an introduction to Python that doesn't talk down to you then dive in Python here.
Great choice for a Python-newbie
This was my first foray into Python. That is, beyond what I had picked up from random articles on the Web over the years. As more or less a complete newbie to the language, I most certainly valued the approach employed and I constantly had those little thoughts like "this is the way a programming language should be taught".
Now what is this approach I'm praising here? In short, it's the good ol' get-your-hands-dirty-quick method of diving head first into actual, meaningful code to figure out what it does, why it works, and thereby figuring out new language features a couple at a time. For example, on page 11 you don't get a list of reserved words in Python or a brief history of how one programming language lead to another, but instead you get a code listing for a little program that takes a dictionary and constructs an ODBC connection string out of it. Simple? Yes, but much more interesting than seeing the syntax for a for-loop. Throughout the book, Pilgrim shows you how to use Python in parsing strings, processing XML, evaluating regular expressions, calling web services, and what not.
"Dive Into Python" is not a reference you can turn to with any Python question imaginable. Instead, it's a very effective tutorial and overview of what (and how) you can do with Python.
Now what is this approach I'm praising here? In short, it's the good ol' get-your-hands-dirty-quick method of diving head first into actual, meaningful code to figure out what it does, why it works, and thereby figuring out new language features a couple at a time. For example, on page 11 you don't get a list of reserved words in Python or a brief history of how one programming language lead to another, but instead you get a code listing for a little program that takes a dictionary and constructs an ODBC connection string out of it. Simple? Yes, but much more interesting than seeing the syntax for a for-loop. Throughout the book, Pilgrim shows you how to use Python in parsing strings, processing XML, evaluating regular expressions, calling web services, and what not.
"Dive Into Python" is not a reference you can turn to with any Python question imaginable. Instead, it's a very effective tutorial and overview of what (and how) you can do with Python.
Dive in and start programming with the first chapter
Dive Into Python does exactly what you would expect from the title. The author takes you right into Python by going through installation in the first chapter and you are already writing a program in the second chapter. This is a book designed for the person who wants to just jump in and get right to work with Python without a lot of preliminary theoretical work. That makes it an ideal book for anyone who has written programs before in Perl, Java, or other languages and already understands things like flow control and similar programming constructs.
The book starts with the basics and by the end has given the reader a good foundation in Python. Areas covered include declaring functions, dictionaries, lists, variables, string formatting, objects, importing modules, working with classes, exceptions, file objects, loops, regular expressions, html processing, xml processing, scripts and streams, http web services, SOAP web services, refactoring, and dynamic functions. With lots of code examples it is easy to follow along with the text and begin writing useful programs quickly.
This is a basic text on Python. It includes everything you need to start programming basic programs. There are more advanced books available but they all tend to assume that you at least have this foundational knowledge in order to understand how they use Python to access a database or make your program network aware with TCP/IP functions, or similar more advanced functions. If you are new to Python this is an excellent place to start and get up to speed quickly by actually working with the program from the first day. Dive Into Python is a highly recommended purchase.
The book starts with the basics and by the end has given the reader a good foundation in Python. Areas covered include declaring functions, dictionaries, lists, variables, string formatting, objects, importing modules, working with classes, exceptions, file objects, loops, regular expressions, html processing, xml processing, scripts and streams, http web services, SOAP web services, refactoring, and dynamic functions. With lots of code examples it is easy to follow along with the text and begin writing useful programs quickly.
This is a basic text on Python. It includes everything you need to start programming basic programs. There are more advanced books available but they all tend to assume that you at least have this foundational knowledge in order to understand how they use Python to access a database or make your program network aware with TCP/IP functions, or similar more advanced functions. If you are new to Python this is an excellent place to start and get up to speed quickly by actually working with the program from the first day. Dive Into Python is a highly recommended purchase.
This is a great way to learn python. Many tutorials give you the building blocks for writing a useful program, but you never put the blocks together. In this book, each chapter starts with a useful program. In the rest of the chapter you learn what each part of the program does. At the end you understand how it all works.
I found it to be very interesting and engaging. It was never boring because you were always learning about a program that did something useful. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to learn Python.
I found it to be very interesting and engaging. It was never boring because you were always learning about a program that did something useful. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to learn Python.
If you have a Kindle I strongly suggest you avoid this book. The formatting of regular text is quite readable, but the code samples are extremely difficult (or impossible) to read.
At it's worst, the code block at the beginning of chapter 5 is completely unreadable without a magnifying glass, and I have 20/20 vision!
Amazon has some work to do with monospaced fonts in programming books and until those are worked out, I would strongly suggest anyone considering this book hold off on purchasing.
At it's worst, the code block at the beginning of chapter 5 is completely unreadable without a magnifying glass, and I have 20/20 vision!
Amazon has some work to do with monospaced fonts in programming books and until those are worked out, I would strongly suggest anyone considering this book hold off on purchasing.
This book is a great overview of not just the python language, but how to think like a python programmer. If you're looking for a dry reference book that lists all of the functions and modules available in Python, this isn't your book. What it does do is give you a good grounding in the basics and give you a great feel for Python. Highly recommended.
This book is great! His style is very challenging and fun. You You are thrown right in just over your head each chapter and thought to swim at this depth.
He shows you essential tricks to writing useful object oriented Python code right from the start.
This is not an exhaustive text relating every aspect of the language but rather a quick in-depth guild to writing effective code using the full power of Python.
"Zero care" applied to printing
This is one of those "print on demand" books. These folks are are simply providing the service of printing and binding: but they have done it badly. Section marker symbols (like (!)) are not to the left of the text, but about halfway in the middle of the page. Gray and colored text is made of of difficult to read dot patterns. Basically it looks like it was printed on a cheap laser printer at 150 dots per inch. It is lower quality than a typical home laser printer, and with the section symbols blocking the text, very hard to read. Also it is advertised as the "2009" edition, but is really the 2004 edition. And never mind the cheap cover and poor paper: those I expected. Overall unacceptable, I will be returning the item and purchasing the professionally printed 2004 edition used.
For the original book, and free license terms, see diveintopython.org
For the original book, and free license terms, see diveintopython.org
Great Python books for experienced programmer!
This book is very comprehsnsive introduction to python. Experienced programmer can find what they want in the well organize books. I like Mark's writing style, very clear and easy to read. Every chapter is beginning with a short python code with precise notation, and it's easy to understand what's python by this way. This book also contains some notes describing the difference between python and other programming language(Perl,Java, and ...). It's good for programmer who learns many programming language at the same time.
This book is fantastic, and is easily the best introduction to Python I have seen.
Do *NOT* buy the $1 kindle version though. This was not released by Mark or the publisher, and is not formatted in any way. This version is impossible to use!
If you have a Kindle I'd recommend the official version from the Publisher, or downloading it for free and formatting it yourself.
Do *NOT* buy the $1 kindle version though. This was not released by Mark or the publisher, and is not formatted in any way. This version is impossible to use!
If you have a Kindle I'd recommend the official version from the Publisher, or downloading it for free and formatting it yourself.
First off, I bought this book because I like having books as physical references over reading something on the computer, as it is available online for free.
My background:
Aerospace Engineer, one single class in C++ programming, but currently out in the "real world" doing other work. I've taken up learning Python as a hobby because it's much more productive than C++ for fooling around. I've made plenty of Matlab, C++, and a few Java programs for things as various as finite element calculations and simple asci games. I wanted to learn a language that was easier to use for graphics and general computer tasks than any of the above mentioned languages, so I went for Python. I wanted to spend time in Lisp, but I was disappointed with the available software. Right now I'm using a Python (x,y) install and the Eclipse IDE.
This book is organized in very manageable chunks (chapters), which probably take an hour or two to read, understand, and program up. It is far easier to read than the other programming book I have used, which was Savitch's absolute c++. Having been through some programming before, I don't find the concepts in this book too difficult to grasp, as I already understood the idea of pointers. Others (new programmers) that are unaware of what pointers are may be confused by some of the concepts in this book. I can honestly say that if you do not understand what pointers/addresses are in computer languages to hold off on this book until you know a little more. I was able to make sure the IDE was configured properly and that it was looking for files in the right place because I've dealt with IDEs and compilers before and can generally stumble my way through getting them to cooperate. Someone new to programming might get hung up on things like this and get frustrated, as this book expects you to already be able to wrangle the necessary tools and just program.
This book teaches by example, and expects you to follow along. The only downside of this is it's not quite as good as a reference as it would have been if it was more thorough, but plenty of help can be found online about Python. Another minor issue is the author doesn't necessarily announce when he is providing an example with an imaginary module, so when you try to run the hypothetical example the interpreter doesn't recognize the module you are trying to import.
I love how this book jumps right into business, and I am very impressed with the way that it immediately gets into the power and capabilities of the language. He doesn't beat the concepts to death, but expects you to actually take the time to understand what is going on without an excessive amount of "let me repeat this 10 times because you're stooopid" and handholding.
I highly recommend that if you want to get into Python right away to grab this book, install Eclipse by itself or a distribution like Python(x,y) for scientific/engineering tasks, and start plugging away.
My background:
Aerospace Engineer, one single class in C++ programming, but currently out in the "real world" doing other work. I've taken up learning Python as a hobby because it's much more productive than C++ for fooling around. I've made plenty of Matlab, C++, and a few Java programs for things as various as finite element calculations and simple asci games. I wanted to learn a language that was easier to use for graphics and general computer tasks than any of the above mentioned languages, so I went for Python. I wanted to spend time in Lisp, but I was disappointed with the available software. Right now I'm using a Python (x,y) install and the Eclipse IDE.
This book is organized in very manageable chunks (chapters), which probably take an hour or two to read, understand, and program up. It is far easier to read than the other programming book I have used, which was Savitch's absolute c++. Having been through some programming before, I don't find the concepts in this book too difficult to grasp, as I already understood the idea of pointers. Others (new programmers) that are unaware of what pointers are may be confused by some of the concepts in this book. I can honestly say that if you do not understand what pointers/addresses are in computer languages to hold off on this book until you know a little more. I was able to make sure the IDE was configured properly and that it was looking for files in the right place because I've dealt with IDEs and compilers before and can generally stumble my way through getting them to cooperate. Someone new to programming might get hung up on things like this and get frustrated, as this book expects you to already be able to wrangle the necessary tools and just program.
This book teaches by example, and expects you to follow along. The only downside of this is it's not quite as good as a reference as it would have been if it was more thorough, but plenty of help can be found online about Python. Another minor issue is the author doesn't necessarily announce when he is providing an example with an imaginary module, so when you try to run the hypothetical example the interpreter doesn't recognize the module you are trying to import.
I love how this book jumps right into business, and I am very impressed with the way that it immediately gets into the power and capabilities of the language. He doesn't beat the concepts to death, but expects you to actually take the time to understand what is going on without an excessive amount of "let me repeat this 10 times because you're stooopid" and handholding.
I highly recommend that if you want to get into Python right away to grab this book, install Eclipse by itself or a distribution like Python(x,y) for scientific/engineering tasks, and start plugging away.
This is a fairly comprehensive intro to Python that will be of most benefit to those that already have some programming knowledge. Pilgrim's writing style is fairly straightforward and concise. Examples are appropriate and understandable.
One thing I wish I'd have known prior to purchasing the book is that the entire thing can be found at www.diveintopython.org.
One thing I wish I'd have known prior to purchasing the book is that the entire thing can be found at www.diveintopython.org.
This is a great book for learning Python from scratch. I love its style of presenting each real Python program to teach multiple things, instead of each contrived little example to teach one thing. I wish all introductory books are written like this.
Dive Into Python is a great book. It's my first stop for Python information when I want to understand a new neighborhood. It does not give a deeply detailed discussion of any of the topics covered, but it does tend to give an adequate description of just about everything. That is not to say that it is a flaky useless overview. It clearly is not that. On the contrary it tends to assume a fairly competent reader. The great advantage of this level of coverage is the ability to actually *read* the book to get a meaningful starting point/overview. To capitalize on this use DIP includes a wonderful list of references for further reading.
In short, I use DIP in the same way that I use the abstracts of journal articles: it tells me everything I want to know 90% of the time and the other 10% of the time it tells me where to look to read more.
In short, I use DIP in the same way that I use the abstracts of journal articles: it tells me everything I want to know 90% of the time and the other 10% of the time it tells me where to look to read more.
Although this book is only a quick approach to python it makes the reader have a good background to continue learning python on itself.
Brilliant Python introduction for experienced programmers
Definitely aimed at experienced programmers this books uses a very interesting approach to teach Python. Each chapter starts with a coding example that the author explains in a lot of detail, showing the most important language constructs and the best way to solve problems using Python.
When studing a programming language from a textbook you often have to switch back an forth from the book to a computer to test some example or dig out some doubt. I was really pleased to see that you don't need to do it with this book.
The text covers python very well (IMHO), but also touches XML parsing, web services, test-first programming, performance tuning and other techinques that I found very useful.
It is also quite funny to read...
The text covers python very well (IMHO), but also touches XML parsing, web services, test-first programming, performance tuning and other techinques that I found very useful.
It is also quite funny to read...
Excellent running introduction to the Python language
This book delivers exactly as advertised. Each chapter begins with a sizable chuck of Python code, which if you are new to the language you will be hard put to understand. The author then spends the rest of the chapter taking the code apart, expanding on each topic until it all makes sense. If anything does make sense, you feel at ease moving rapidly ahead. A great way to learn for an impatient geek like myself.
This is an introduction to the language, not a reference. Experienced Python developers need not apply.
This is an introduction to the language, not a reference. Experienced Python developers need not apply.
Mark Pilgrim's Dive Into Python books are exactly what they say they are: a way to jump straight into Python development. This is both a benefit and an hindrance. On the one hand, reading this book and following the examples, one will be set to write Python applications and get to work using the language. The book is good at being informative and in depth. On the other hand, diving into the complexities of ODBC and SOAP is not the best way to learn the language if you're just a hobbyist programmer. The examples are rather large and complicated for something that is ostensibly an introductory text and I am afraid I was lost quite a bit working through the examples. I was expecting a very light read, but the book left me confused a few times. However, the book is well written and it is clear that the author cares about the reader. I would not recommend the book to someone just starting programming, but to an advanced programmer or someone in industry, Dive Into Python is a good introduction to the language.
Excellent Introduction for Experienced Programmers
Dive into Python should be the first stop for learning Python for any experienced programmer. Moving immediately into interesting, relevant examples, this book makes learning this interesting language quite fun.
nice examples to dive into and get a whole view of the language in very short time. but not recommended for newcomers in programming.
Best Python Book for Experienced Programmers
The online-tutorials and references and books I've read so far simply didn't cut it.
This "dives" right from the start into the Python idioms that make the language so cherished by its followers.
Wonderful book, and wonderful language.
This "dives" right from the start into the Python idioms that make the language so cherished by its followers.
Wonderful book, and wonderful language.
didn't care for it - not for programming newbies
I have experience with Fortran, some C/C++, but mostly IDL, a commercial scripting language for scientific visualization. I'm interested in Python because its an open source scripting language.
At the very least, skim the free online version before buying it. I got a copy from a friend and found it tough going. The first chapter 'dives' right into dictionaries and I didn't find it clear at all. Didn't make it past the first 2 or 3 chapters before looking for something else. The visual layout could also be better.
At the very least, skim the free online version before buying it. I got a copy from a friend and found it tough going. The first chapter 'dives' right into dictionaries and I didn't find it clear at all. Didn't make it past the first 2 or 3 chapters before looking for something else. The visual layout could also be better.
Not for Newbies to Python or OOP
As other reviewers have pointed out, this should not be your first Python book.
If fact, I think that really you should already know Python pretty darn well to be able to make use of the "efficient" syntax examples.
If you don't understand OOP already, you might find youself completely lost.
By the time you learn everything you need to know to understand this book... you won't need it.
If fact, I think that really you should already know Python pretty darn well to be able to make use of the "efficient" syntax examples.
If you don't understand OOP already, you might find youself completely lost.
By the time you learn everything you need to know to understand this book... you won't need it.
This book should have been called "Wade Into the Shallow End of Python." Virtually every section is punctuated by a statement to the effect of "I don't really understand how this crazy stuff works, either, so here's some other books you can read instead of this one if you want to learn anything" and it's probably the best advice the author has to offer. Numerous features of the language are glanced over or even omitted entirely just so we can enjoy three chapters worth of pointless RSS feed parsing examples and repeated exposure to a textual rendering of the author's extensive collection of obscure techno music. Rudimentary features of regular expressions are also over-explained ad infinitum despite the fact that this book is meant to target developers with experience in other programming languages. If they really needed to pad the content that much then why not cover things like metaclasses or the new generator features or pretty much anything useful?
It gets an extra star simply because it contains no painful-to-read Monty Python references which stopped being funny around 1985; something the official documentation cannot claim.
It gets an extra star simply because it contains no painful-to-read Monty Python references which stopped being funny around 1985; something the official documentation cannot claim.
essentially "Quick Python" second edition albeit abridged
I'm starting a new Python job soon and so picked up a hard copy of Dive Into Python. The book does jump right in with non-trivial examples. However I find all the references to external resources/websites disconcerting: these must certainly work much better in the free online version of the book. Furthermore I had occasion to pull my old copy of the "Quick Python Book" off the shelf in the meantime, and "Dive Into Python" is formatted in much the same way with footnotes embedded in the code examples. However, Dive Into Python does not pull it off as well as its predecessor. First, the footnotes don't stand out well enough: in the Quick Python Book they are bolder. Also there is too much wasted white space: in the Quick Python Book sometimes the footnotes were explained directly in the right hand margin, in Dive Into Python they always take up new lines under the code sample. These issues combined with a larger font and smaller page, and although the two books are approximately the same length in pages, I'm sure the Quick Python Book contains significantly more material. Yes Dive Into Python is much more up to date, but, other things being equal, compared to its predecessor, it's quite disappointing, at least in hardcopy.
UPDATE: I'm on another Python contract and have had occasion to pull this book off the shelf again. And I have another complaint: the index is next to worthless. I stand by my initial review, and am really baffled that it's gotten only 1 out of 14 helpful votes thus far, apparently mostly friends of the author or people that think Python and or this book is some sort of Golden Hammer
UPDATE: I'm on another Python contract and have had occasion to pull this book off the shelf again. And I have another complaint: the index is next to worthless. I stand by my initial review, and am really baffled that it's gotten only 1 out of 14 helpful votes thus far, apparently mostly friends of the author or people that think Python and or this book is some sort of Golden Hammer
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