Comments about oreilly Programming Python, Third Edition:

I use the combination Learning Python and Programming Python and am amazed and impressed by the clearness of the texts.

Cross-platform portability gets more than sufficient attention and I, as a Mac OS user, do not feel that this book would not support my (or any other) environment.

Comments about oreilly Programming Python, Third Edition:

I am currently internet shopping for a new programming language to learn, possibly Java, Perl or Python. My intention is to buy a good O'Reilly book (maybe more than one) after sampling some books, tutorials and other on-line documentation for each of the programming languages.

In considering Python I have been reading sections from the sample pages on-line for two books by Mark Lutz, the Learning Python book and this Programming Python book. I am very impressed with what I have learned about the possibilities of the Python programming language from Mark Lutz. This is the first source I have found that indicates that I may be able to draw filled and outline shapes such as colored triangles, arcs, lines, circles and rectangles using Python. As a classroom teacher the ability to draw shapes is a very important part of the types of programs I want to create for my students.

My main concern is that Mark Lutz barely mentions Apple Macintosh computers in his books according to the page samples I have been reading on O'Reilly's website. He includes instructions and information for Windows users first, and then may include a little bit of help for Linux or Unix users sometimes. By the time he gets around to mentioning Macintosh he has nothing to say.

I do not want to buy the Learning Python or Programming Python books and then find that there is nothing in the books to help a Macintosh user learn Python.

Can O'Reilly not find an author with Python programming experience using a Macintosh to supplement the text written by Mark Lutz by adding details, information and instructions for Macintosh programmers?

Comments about oreilly Programming Python, Third Edition:

If the index was complete, this book would be very useful.

Comments about oreilly Programming Python, Third Edition:

It is a good book, but I continue to be disappointed with the lack of support for or discussion of Mac OSX / Darwin in the examples.

Thanks,

--M

Comments about oreilly Programming Python, Third Edition:

Think of a python word. Look in the index. Chances are it isn't there. A book is not searchable electronic media, novel though this experience might be for most programmers, I know! You really, really cannot skimp on the index. You could usefully double the number of index pages. Take a python interpreter, get a full list of python words. Put them _all_ in the index unless they don't appear in your book, not even once. Then write down a list of concepts such as "flow control". Add those too. Then you will have at least a basic index. At present the book is just an exuberant random assembly and no good as a source for answers.

Comments about oreilly Programming Python, Third Edition:

'Programming Python' by Mark Lutz is an absolute gem of a book for anyone that is, wants, or has to learn Python. From the nuts and bolts to learning how to do the uber-exciting superstar stuff, this book has it all and then some. At around 1,550 page, this book is certainly not on the light side, but as I rarely do with books this larger, I cannot complain one bit. Solid writing, wonderfully laid out, and the kind of guide that can be described as "a course in a book", this is an exceptional reference for Python users and lovers the world over.

Can I possibly use any more adjectives to describe how much I praise this book?? If you use Python or want to become a better Python programmer, pick up this home run and you'll be rounding the bases in no time!!

***** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Comments about oreilly Programming Python, Third Edition:

As an experienced programmer new to Python, this (large!) book is proving its worth at a very early stage. I picked up the rudiments of Python from the 'Nutshell' book, and the online tutorial (www.python.org). This book picks up from there perfectly - how to get things done.

I have sifted through the first few chapters and feel I've learned much about the 'python way' of doing things. I have also had a need for help with XML (middle of the book) and C-extentions (end of the book), and found that jumping around as such was not a problem - the material sampled in both of these sections provided a foundation that was far easier to deal with than previous attempts to patch together info from web searching, etc.

I'll never have time to read it cover to cover, but it will be on my desk anytime I'm python'ing.

Comments about oreilly Programming Python, Third Edition:

Scraping and processing the web for data is increasingly interesting to blooming social scientists. With the availability of the BeautifulSoup library, these occasional programmers are now able to slice & dice HTML with regular expressions. But they shouldn't use this book to help them scrape the data from the Internet. Reading this book and using its examples, one might conclude that cookies don't exist on the Web.

If you're looking for solid Web examples or networking example code, don't look here. This section of the book is in need of a re-tune.