Python Distilled (Developer's Library)

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If you read this book very carefully you will notice that Python is different and has features that other languages don't have that could be useful to you. But in the main the book presents Python as if it was like Java or C++ and only then gets around to pointing out that how things actually work. For example, not emphasizing that a class is an object and how instances of the class make use of this object means that you can't really understand what is going on. This might not matter as long as you don't try and do anything out of the ordinary, but as soon as you move off from the well-beaten path, either intentionally or because you have an error to debug, then making sense of it is harder. I don't think this book brings out the unity of the overall approach Python brings to programming. It is mostly all there in the book somewhere, but you have to go looking for it. This book would be suitable for a beginner looking to improve their Python without moving too far outside of their comfort zone.

Chapter 1 is a lightning overview of Python from variables to objects. It doesn't go deep into anything - just presents the basic ideas. For example, in the section on functions it just tells you how to define a Python function as if it was any other language and doesn't mention the important fact that a function is an object. There is a later chapter dedicated to functions so this isn't unreasonable. If you're a complete beginner to programming, I'd recommend starting with a different book. But Python Distilled could easily be the second book on your list once you have some experience.Table 1.2, pg. 5. Description for round(a, [n]) should state that it rounds to the nearest multiple of 10 to the -nth power. Table 1.6, pg. 10. Description for s.endswith(prefix [,start [,end]]) would be better if it used suffix instead This is a pragmatic book that presents some of the most important topics about the Python programming language in a concise form, designed to make it easier to find out the most relevant information bits in a context where resources abound and frequently are just too overwhelming." Rather than trying to cover every possible feature and quirk of a 30-year-old language, this pragmatic guide provides a concise narrative related to fundamental programming topics such as data abstraction, control flow, program structure, functions, objects, and modules-topics that form the foundation for Python projects of any size. Chapter 7 revisits class and here we learn about how to write a class definition, but not exactly how the class works, how methods are created and how inheritance works. We do find out some deeper things later on, but it isn't until the closing sections of the chapter that we discover that a class is an object and learn aboutmetaclass.Getting a clear idea of what is going on with class and instance is difficult.

Chapter 3 introduces flow of control and covers ifs and while loops before moving on to exceptions and context managers. As already mentioned, there's nothing about pattern matching. Section 1.8, pg. 15. ['SYM', '123', '456.78'] should include the newline and be ['SYM', '123', '456.78\n'] Python educator Dave Beazley's concise handbook focuses on the essential core of the Python programming language, with code examples to illuminate how Python works and how to structure programs that can be more easily explained, tested, and debugged. Rather than trying to cover every possible feature and quirk of a 30-year-old language, this pragmatic guide provides a concise narrative related to fundamental programming topics that form the foundation for Python projects of any size including Python educator Dave Beazley’s concise handbook focuses on the essential core of the Python programming language, with code examples to illuminate how Python works and how to structure programs that can be more easily explained, tested, and debugged. Rather than trying to cover every possible feature and quirk of a 30-year-old language, this pragmatic guide provides a concise narrative related to fundamental programming topics that form the foundation for Python projects of any size including

Book review — Python Distilled, by David M. Beazley

stars. Python Distilled has a perfectly suited title: This book is for experienced programmers who want to learn Python and need the Python programming language's core syntax, standard library, and Pythonic idioms. However, if you're a developer who wants to add Python to your toolbox, I recommend Python Distilled as one of the first books you should read.

No programming language is complete without input and output methods, so chapter 9 covers these topics, including data encoding, command-line options, environment variables, file I/O, and data serialization. Together with chapter 10, they also present some useful modules and functions from the Standard Library. It is not an extensive description, since the detailed documentation can easily be found online, nowadays. It's more like a roadmap where you can find a brief description of some useful tools, that you can then go investigate more if you need them. Chapter 6 is about generators and it does give you the basics, but itfailstoemphasizethat generators are just another way to create aniterable. This doesn't matter if all you are interested in is using generators ascoroutines,say, but it does if you are thinking of implementing aniterableeither as a generator or using __next__. The way iterators developed from generators is briefly mentioned in a final section at the end of the chapter as a history lesson. As such this is not a book for newbie programmers. It is probably not even the first book for Python programmers - that would be the online tutorial. But when you are ready to dive into the sea of little secrets that add up to Python's one big secret then this is the book you will need. At a month old my copy is already dog-eared and battered, with some sections re-read many times as I use them to implement new and more sophisticated techniques. There are several really useful, possibly critical, reference tables, such as the magic methods underlying data model protocols, all the builtin types and functions plus the more immediately useful bits of the Python standard library. Rather than trying to cover every possible feature and quirk of a 30-year-old language, this pragmatic guide provides a concise narrative related to fundamental programming topics such as data abstraction, control flow, program structure, functions, objects, and modules--topics that form the foundation for Python projects of any size. Throughout, the book tends to present small examples and short code samples as it tries to explain the Python programming language itself. It does not cover the techniques and design or architectural patterns that are usually required in larger-scale projects. Once again, however, there are other (some of them much longer) books for that purpose. Conclusion

No programming language is complete without input and output methods, so chapter 9 covers these topics, including data encoding, command-line options, environment variables, file I/O and data serialization. Together with chapter 10, they also present some useful modules and functions from the Standard Library. It is not an extensive description, since the detailed documentation can easily be found online, nowadays. It’s more like a roadmap where you can find a brief description of some useful tools, that you can then go investigate more if you need them. Python Distilled: Expert Insight for Modern Python (3.6+) Development from the Author of Python Essential Reference