New to Python

[Grant Edwards]

In article <wDH48.3403$Ox4.13294 at rwcrnsc51.ops.asp.att.net>, Bill May wrote:

> Hello all, I am looking into the possibility of a job change in the next
> month or two. The company I am looking at uses Python. For the last 2 years
> I have been programming with Java, (Swing, JDBC, EJB's).
> 
> What I am looking for is any ideas on good web-sites or books to teach
> myself Python.

There's more stuff than you could read in one lifetime online
at www.python.org.  There's a number of tutorials, plus the
definitive online references for the language and library modules.

There's a nice list of Python books at http://www.amk.ca/bookstore/python.html

If you've got some money to spend on books, my recommendations
are:

1) Python Essential Reference

   It's got a nice introduction to Python at the beginning
   which I think is sufficient for anybody who has already done
   some object-oriented programming.  The rest is mostly a
   refernce for the extensive Python library, but it's awfully
   nice to have hard copy handy when you just don't have any
   more room on your screen.  It's also nice just for glacing
   through the sections on stuff you might not ever think to
   look up online.

2) If you're going to use Tkinter:

   Python and Tkinter Programming

   The definitive book on using the Tk binding of Python.  Also
   has nice examples of how to build a decent-sized application
   using Python's object/class constructs.

3) Python Programming on Win32

   I don't have a copy but if you're going to do a lot of
   Windows specific stuff, you might want a copy.  It's from
   O'Reilly and the authors know more about doing Win32 and COM
   stuff than does Microsoft.

The next one I'm probably going to by is 

4) Python Standard Library with CDROM

   It's by Fredrik Lundh, and it's from O'Reilly, so one really
   has to buy it just on general principal.

The one Python book I have that I didn't like much is
Programming With Python (Prima Publishing).  Note: this is
different than Programming Python (O'Reilly).  Programming With
Python is a collection of annotated examples.  At first it
seemed like it would be a good resource, but I could never find
examples relevent to the questions I was trying to answer, and I 
never use it much.

There are a handful of intro/tutorial/teach-yourself-python
type books, but I've never looked at any of them...

-- 
Grant Edwards                   grante             Yow!  YOW!! Now I
                                  at               understand advanced
                               visi.com            MICROBIOLOGY and th' new
                                                   TAX REFORM laws!!