[Tutor] Python Books - One Man's Opinion

[Arthur Watts]

Guys,

	Please note: all prices quoted below represent the amount that I
paid in Australian dollars. Our dollar is currently around $US 0.52, so
please don't flame me about the price you paid. I've included this to give
you an idea of relative pricing : please check Amazon etc for current
prices.

	I noticed a query about Python books on the list, so here's my two
cents (that's Aust currency : your mileage may vary..) worth :

	1. The O'Reilly 'bibles' : Learning Python and Programming Python.
As a Perl programmer, I immediately leapt upon the latter as a Python
equivalent to Larry Wall's Camel book, Programming Perl. After grinding my
way through Mark Lutz' quite large (880 pages) book, I admit that I went
back to the comparative safety of Perl. It was only after spending some more
time with Python (and reading a lot of other material) that I was able to
grasp certain parts of this book.

	Learning Python is, arguably, the best of the current crop of Python
books available. If you've read through the introductory stuff on the Python
Home page and feel that Python may be what you are after, I heartily
recommend it as the next step.

	Learning Python : $69.95		Rating : ****
	Programming Python : $99.95		Rating:  ****

	2. The SAMS Book, 'Teach Yourself Python in 24 Hours'.  A lot of
industry professionals avoid anything with a title like this, and often for
good reason. I agree that the 'Dummies' series has no place in a serious
programmers bookshelf, but I have found several of the SAMS series (Shell
Programming, for example) to be reasonable treatments of often complex
subjects. The author of TY Python in 24 Hrs has adopted a common approach -
he assumes that the reader is computer-literate, but knows little of
programming. He covers a lot of ground in a relatively small book, and its a
reasonable introductory text and good value for money.

	Teach Yourself Python in 24 Hours : $39.95     Rating : ***

	3. Python and Tkinter Programming : a difficult book to critique, as
I am new to Graphics programming and still a long way from being an expert
Python programmer ! Perhaps someone else can provide an opinion ?

	Unsure of the price .. I think it was about $90   Rating : N/A

	4. Python Essential Reference , David M Beazley (New Riders, 2000).
Easily my personal favourite. The author freely admits that the information
contained can be found via the Python Home page, but I would argue that
you'd need to spend plenty of time trying to find some of it. The book
manages to be both compact and comprehensive (not unlike the language
itself..), and uses one/two line examples to illustrate various syntactical
descriptions. This book won;t teach you how to program in Python, but it
will help you immensely once you get the basics sorted.  

	Python Essential Reference : $60.20     Rating : *****

	I have read that there are other, more beginner-friendly titles on
the way, but they haven't arrived in my technical bookstore as yet : no room
for all the Linux and Java titles :} 

Enjoy,

Arthur
Arthur Watts
Systems Integrator
GBST Holdings Ltd

'Good programmers know what to use, great programmers know what to re-use' :
Old Jungle Saying