Python in a Nutshell 246
Python in a Nutshell | |
author | Alex Martelli |
pages | 636 pages |
publisher | O'Reilly |
rating | Excellent, superb, 5 stars |
reviewer | Ron Stephens |
ISBN | 0596001886 |
summary | Complete reference book for the Python programming language |
Written by my favorite author and Pythonista, Alex Martelli, this book manages to fill three roles in extremely pleasing fashion. First and foremost to me, it is a great read, straight through. Mr. Martelli's prose is always sparkling and always keeps the reader interested. No matter how many Python books you have read, you will learn some nuances from this book, and it is about the best review of the whole Pythonic subject matter that I can imagine. While there is absolutely no fluff whatsoever in these 636 pages, it still makes for rather easy reading because the explanations are so clearly thought out and explored as to lead one gently to understanding, without in any way being verbose. It is obvious that Alex Martelli took his time and put in sufficient thought, effort, and intellectual elbow-grease to make this work a classic for all time.
Secondly, this book is the ultimate Pythonic reference book, the best fit to this role I have yet seen. You will keep this book in the most cherished spot on your book shelf, or else right at your side on your computer desk, because you can almost instantly find any topic on which you need to brush up, in the midst of a programming project.
Third, Python in a Nutshell is the most up-to-date book on Python (as of April 2003) and includes the best and most complete expositions yet on the new features introduced in Python 2.2 and 2.3. These topics are not only covered in depth, they are integrated into the text in their proper positions and relationships to the language as a whole. They are explained better here than I have seen anywhere else, so much so as to make them not only understandable to me (a duffer), but indeed so that they appear seamlessly Pythonic, as if they had been a part of the language since version 1.0. Topics explored in depth include new style classes, static methods, class methods, nested scopes, iterators, generators, and new style division. List comprehensions are made not only comprehensible but indeed intuitive.
The book is surprisingly complete. It covers the core language as well as the most popular libraries and extension modules. It is difficult to choose any one portion of the book to highlight for extra praise, as all topics are treated so well. It is a complete book, the new definitive book about Python.
Everything about this book speaks of quality. In addition to the top notch writing and editing, O'Reilly really did the right thing and published this book printed on the highest quality paper, paper so thin that the 636 pages are encompassed in a book much thinner than one would expect for such a size, but strong enough to resist wear and tear. The text is most pleasing to the eye. Holding the book, and turning its pages, gives one a feeling of satisfaction.
Any job worth doing is worth doing well. Alex Martelli and O'Reilly have done justice to a topic dear to our hearts, the Python programming language. Perhaps, in years to come, the passage of time may make this book to be no longer the most up-to-date reference on the newest features added to Python. But time can not erase the quality craftsmanship and the shear joy of reading such a well thought out masterpiece of Pythonic literature.
You can purchase Python in a Nutshell from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page. Ron Stephens would also like you to check out Python City, with "27+ reviews of books about Python. 67+ links to online tutorials about Python and related subjects Daily newsfeed of Pythonic web articles, new sourceforge projects, etc."
Re:A (hopefully) unbiased opinion on Perl v. Pytho (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:A (hopefully) unbiased opinion on Perl v. Pytho (Score:2, Interesting)
I didn't have any problem with false starts, I went to the python website one day to check it out and the next day I went to one of the online books about python they linked to and I learned a shitload and within a couple hours I began to appreciate and love Python.
Python's niche (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:I was surprised, but... (Score:3, Interesting)
One of the hardest things for Python authors to deal with is the constant evolution of the language. For example, the move from the string module to string object methods was a huge change and "Programming Python" still suffers from it (meaning most of the book uses the deprecated string module).
What I'm really looking forward to is the upcoming Text Processing in Python [gnosis.cx] by David Mertz [gnosis.cx]. Reading the online version has opened up new worlds to me in text processing (the majority of my Python work).
Re:A (hopefully) unbiased opinion on Perl v. Pytho (Score:2, Interesting)
That being said, Perl is at least useful for many things ("practical," I believe it's called).
Python is useful for many things as well, as evidenced by the number of people who use it, including Boeing, Disney, Hewlett-Packard, Industrial Light & Magic, Intel, JPL, Lawrence Livermore Labs, NASA, and Yahoo. Programmers at places like these are usually allowed to make their own decsions about their tools, and they chose Python. These guys are good. They don't use tools that they don't like. This is not to say that Python is their only scripting language. I know NASA makes good use of TCL, and probably uses Perl as well.
Peter Norvig says "Python has been an important part of Google since the beginning, and remains so as the system grows and evolves. Today dozens of Google engineers use Python, and we're looking for more people with skills in this language." Norvig is director of search quality at Google. Look at his home page (www.norvig.com/ [norvig.com]. When a guy who writes AI books talks up a language, it means something. I'm not saying it means everything. It's another piece of data to put on the scales.
More details on use of Python:www.python-in-business.org/success/ [python-in-business.org]
http://www.python.org/Quotes.html [python.org]
Finally, I note that the Google jobs page mentions Perl 11 times and Python 15 times, for what it's worth. I didn't read the job descriptions.
Re:I was surprised, but... (Score:1, Interesting)
Anna