Python 3: The Comprehensive Guide to Hands-On Python Programming (Rheinwerk Computing)

One of the most thorough and comprehensive programming volumes I have ever read. Thank you - brilliant end-to-end, walks through a lot of Python concepts, examples, sample code, and instructions. Python can be quite complicated, this book does what it can to walk you through everything from a 101 to higher level.

It's not surprising that both authors have extensive training in mathematics! Contrary to what many may believe, mathematicians are generally among the very best technical writers--quite possibly, THE very best, as a rule! This book was obviously written with painstaking attention to detail. There are frequent cross-references, in both directions. Sometimes this is a bit of a nuisance, but it's probably unavoidable. I know of no other book on Python that rivals this one. The books by Mark Luzt (both of them!) and Naomi Cederare vastly inferior. The books by Lutz are far too long. The official Python website makes them redundant. And the book by Naomi Ceder is carelessly written. For example, I refer you to page 91. Towards the bottom of that page, immediately to the left of the displayed (in boldface type) comment "Obtains value for 'red'," there's an apparently extraneous and incorrect character "C." This kind of thing is unforgivable in a book on computer languages (or any natural language). In a mathematics book, some errors are tolerable because it knowledgeable reader can detect them--a priori. But in the sort of book under discussion here, the only way to determine whether an error was made is to run the code. That should not be necessary.

The book introduction addresses 3 types of individuals: 1 - "Beginner programmer or a newcomer with basic knowledge of another programming language", 2 - "Good at programming and want to ... transition ... to Python", and 3 - "Experienced Python programmers". With that in mind, I'll give my impression by topics: 1) Overall impression ("TL;DR") Great for type 2. May serve type 1 people that learn by examples and frown upon theory. Type 3 may want to look only into specific chapters. 2) Reasoning for each person background Type 1 people with serious interest in programming should read better introductions to programming first and, especially (IMO), data structures, how the CPU works (minimally) etc. I'm one of those who suggest learning programming with C. Surely you can start with Python, but beware when doing it with this book. The classic case is you learning by example, and then losing a long time fixing your deficiencies in collections, what makes a collection ordered, hashsets, equality and so on. You are going to do wrong things that could be avoided IMO. If you learn by example, and want to get started quickly, then I guess the book works. Type 2: great. The entire book is useful. I feel like having a conversation, writing down my notes, disagreeing with some things, correcting others, and learning a lot from all the content. Type 3: whatever you're missing is probably not inside this large book. It is probably in Stackoverflow or deep down the online documentation of Django, django-rest-framework, cryptography, mathplot, tk or whatever etc. Perhaps you may benefit from Parallel Programming, Networks (if you never did lower level like sockets), and of course Scientific Programming. You will skip most of this book I presume. 3) Specific points for what I said above P. 105: I seriously disagree with teaching the technical concept only to say you're going to relax your language for the sake of easiness. In short, when you introduce a concept, use it consistently. I think everyone, _especially_ beginners, should always try to enforce their own correct usage of technical concepts. This is not pedantic... when you search online, using the proper technical term for your doubt will help you get the information much quicker (increase accuracy of results - accuracy in the statistical sense). P. 106: Dynamically vs statically typed and all that should have been mentioned briefly. P. 159: He should have emphasized ordering vs not ordering of particular collection types. P. 171: typo. Subsection 12.3.5 should have been 12.3.4.1 or, better yet, an unordered subsection. Especially because he refers to this subsection later in page 321 as "12.3.4". P. 258: The book does not mention the deprecation of utcnow() because it was edited before Python 3.12. Nevertheless, you should know. P. 267: there is an example for calculating time differences with different TZs. I'd wish he had commented on the expected outcome if comparing with the same TZ since it is not immediately clear (to me) what the expected (but wrong) result would be. P. 287: keyword only arguments. While the example is not solely focused on keyword only arguments, it is shown directly below a paragraph about this, and one is forgiven for finishing the paragraph and look at the code as an example of kw only arguments. I'd exemplify with (*, a, b, ...) instead of (a, b, *, d, e). P. 370: I think he should have said that it is, at the very least, generally considered more elegant to call class members from the class name instead of from the instance. P. 379: I know he meant the discussion of hash and equality as a sidenote, hence the "Note", but this is such a common pitfall in so many languages that I believe he should have clearly stated all expected requirements of Python from __hash__ and __eq__ methods considered together. This is certainly one of the first minefields a beginner will encounter. I also believe a nice introduction to pigeonhole and collisions could have been there, or at least mentioned so the reader could look it up online. This would help understand why unequals MAY, while equals MUST, have the same hash, and, conversely, why different hashes MUST, while same hashes MAY (very rarely do), correspond to different objects. And thus why when you define one you are very strongly advised to define the other. P. 474: type aliases. Using built in types is allowed since Python 3.9 and it must have been stated in the book. P. 474: type unions. Considering it is allowed since 3.10 as stated in the book, I believe the section should have focused on the new way instead of "amending" the book to mention the new behavior in what feels like an afterthought. P. 519: it is dangerous, IMHO, to say MD5 has "limited" suitability for passwords when you're not fully discussing the matter. I'd say "never unless you clearly understand the security of hashes". In short, for a book like this, "never with an asterisk" is more appropriate (again, IMHO). Chapter 32: I understand the mindset, but JSON should open this chapter instead of XML. I mean, c'mon, it is year 2024 already. P. 652: typo. Footnote has original German "die" instead of "the [database]". P. 654: typo. SQL example has a period instead of underscore in "SELECT warehouse.compartment.number" (last period). P. 713. I know. Someone out there still uses it. But why spend all that paper on FTP when many other more pressing needs are referred to an online documentation? P. 917. The explanation on Django template folder structure is not clear. We all know it avoids ambiguity, but the less known information is _how_ Django's merging of templates would create ambiguity. The book should have seized the opportunity, as it creates a much stronger argument for what is an apparent nonsensical design that so many newcomers complain about.

The book is big and heavy, literally and topically. I am using it to freshen up on old python skills and see what is new.

I use it all of the time ! Great for use in my class

Its over a thousand pages long. I bought it to replace my previous reference book on Python which is over 20 years old and out of date. I am an amateur Python programmer and sometimes forget how to type in some command. Even if I have used that command before. It has a section on using pillow the image processing software. I liked the unpack module which shows a better way of reading a binary file than what I have used before. I think the section on Tkinter could have been better. Probably anything you want to know about Python is in this book. Its great to have one book where you can find anything you need for programming Python. Not cheap, but worth it if you are serious about Python programming.

Complete coverage of the python programming language.

This book is 1036 pages of bliss!! I love this book. It is exactly what I was wanting. Just flipping through it a little, I have learned a few things already and I only received it yesterday. It is well binded, well published and there is nothing superfluous written in it. Authors took great care in writing it. I really appreciate it. It is a total reference. I will prob order the javascript book that is just like it. Very very handy reference book.. I'm very impressed.. Worth every penny.. I also bought Python Distilled. For me personally, I like this book much better. It is a much better reference than P.D.

Not a step-wise progression style (learn-as-you-go) type of book but most of those are "getting started with" level that barely teach anything seriously. I just read it through on first pass to get the general coverage and am going through it now for the second time researching the examples, knowing where it's heading. Maybe not a great first book but an excellent choice for anyone wanting to get seriously involved in Python programming.

ste libro, galardonado con el IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award, busca ser una guía completa para dominar Python 3, adecuada tanto para principiantes como para programadores más experimentados. Lo bueno: Alcance exhaustivo: Cubre desde los conceptos fundamentales de Python (funciones, modularización, orientación a objetos, tipos de datos) hasta temas más avanzados como GUIs, programación de red, depuración, optimización, el uso de Django y computación científica. Enfoque práctico: Incluye numerosos ejemplos de código descargables, lo que permite a los lectores practicar y aplicar los conceptos aprendidos de inmediato. Estructura sistemática: El libro está diseñado para guiar al lector desde la creación de programas simples hasta la comprensión de elementos de lenguaje complejos y técnicas de programación avanzadas. Contenido de la Biblioteca Estándar: Explora la biblioteca estándar de Python y cómo se puede utilizar para diversas tareas, lo que es crucial para cualquier programador de Python. Relevancia: A pesar de haber sido publicado en 2022 (o 2023 según algunas fuentes), su contenido sigue siendo relevante para Python 3. Lo que podría mejorar / Consideraciones: Valoraciones mixtas (según Goodreads): Aunque ha ganado premios y las descripciones son prometedoras, las valoraciones en Goodreads (3.83/5 con 12 calificaciones) son algo variadas, lo que sugiere que no todos los lectores lo encontraron perfecto para sus necesidades. Esto podría indicar que, si bien es "completo", la forma en que presenta la información puede no resonar con todos los estilos de aprendizaje. "Comprehensive" puede ser abrumador: Para un principiante absoluto, la cantidad de información en una "guía completa" de 1036 páginas podría ser abrumadora. Es importante que el lector sepa si busca una introducción suave o una referencia profunda. En resumen: "Python 3: The Comprehensive Guide" se presenta como un recurso sólido y ambicioso para cualquiera que quiera profundizar en Python. Su punto fuerte es la amplitud de temas que aborda y su enfoque práctico con ejemplos de código. Si buscas un libro de referencia detallado que te lleve desde los fundamentos hasta aspectos avanzados de Python, y estás dispuesto a dedicar tiempo a una lectura extensa, este libro podría ser una excelente opción. Sin embargo, si eres un principiante total, quizás quieras complementar con recursos más introductorios o asegurarte de que su estilo de enseñanza se alinea con tus preferencias.

A self contained manual for python 3 code. I don't suggest you read it cover to cover, but use it as a reference when faced with a problem

Need adapt to news updates but is very good and easy to learn.

Ok