[Pythonmac-SIG] Apple installed vs. Manual

[eichin at metacarta.com]

> what is currently Essential Reading on Python, I mean in print rather

> Of course, "it depends".  Dive into Python looks pretty good.  Python

I've been beating on people with, err, recommending Dive Into Python, 
for two reasons - you can read it online to see if it suits you, *and*
it's *very* different in style from most language teaching books, none
of that 'useless hello world nonsense', it really does start out with
hairy code - because you can *read* it and learn interesting points
in a context which makes it clear that they're not just pedantic
points, but that they apply to real problems.  (I've found it useful
for porting perl programmers, too :-)

I also suggest (especially if you like working from Real Paper Books)
the Python Standard Libraries book - not to read through, but to pick
up, thumb through and random, and say "oh, that's a cool
thing"... getting familiar with "batteries" that are in reach, along
a different path from the usual (google :-) path...