Customer Rating:  
Summary: Major disappointment
Comment: Having programmed before (in dBase, COBOL, etc.) I expected to be able to follow a book that's intended for less-experienced programmers. Boy, was I mistaken.This would probably be a fine book for someone who is migrating from C++, but I found many of their explanations needlessly cryptic. They use, in all of the examples, phrases from Monty Python - understandable, but totally useless for someone who wishes to relate functions to real-life application. In short - if you've already mastered C, this book may help. If you have minimal or no programming experience, this book will show you how to perform functions, but will not explain what you'd want to use these functions for in application programming.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Very clear text and organized structure
Comment: I am a Windows .Net programmer who wanted to try some Linux programming (but console and GUI), and after a few frustated tries with C++, I finally found Python. Python is a _beautiful_ language, probably the most elegant I've ever seen since my days at university.This book is very well-written, although the pace might be a bit slow (if you prefer a "faster" but more superficial book, try the Python Quick Visual Startguide). The author is extremely clear and the text very well-organized. This book covers both the basics and the advanced stuff, so it might be all you need for a good while. Once you get familiar with the language basics, you might be able to learn the rest (such as GUI and web programming) through online tutorials.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A great place to start
Comment: This is an excellent place to start learning Python. The authors are very knowlegable and have obviously read and understood big chunks of the Python source code. Still, with all of that knowledge, they move at a good pace for learning (not too quickly or too slowly). I recommend this book as a great starting place for learning Python.To pick nits, the authors (or perhaps the editors) need to learn the difference between affect (the verb) and effect (the noun). They use effect throughout, even when it is being used as a verb. Also, I was somewhat disappointed with Tkinter, but this probably wasn't the fault of the authors. It's a big subject, and this book is more about teaching core concepts. With regard to big add-on libraries, such as Tkinter, this book is more about whetting your appetite. Knowing that such add-ons are there is half the battle, and the book accomplishes that, in addition to great coverage of core concepts. I think my disappointment related to Tkinter had more to do with Python than the book. Python (the language) seems terrific for thin-client, browser-based development (CGIs), but not quite ready for prime time GUIs.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Probably the best Python textbook
Comment: After a brief encounter with the on-line documentation from Python community, I decided to learn this powerful language with the help of Python library from O'Reilly. I started with a "Python in a Nutshell" which is a good reference guide for experienced (Python) programmers, however it's too heavy for the Python newbie like me. Since, I'm not a professional, full-time programmer, I knew that I needed something more comprehensible, so I waited for the second edition of the "Learning Python" to be published. At the end, the wait paid off.
This book is excellent study guide for any kind of programmers, from absolute beginners to veterans in other languages. The book clearly shows that the both authors are experienced teachers. Topics are presented in a clear fashion with plenty of code samples and useful exercises at the end of each part. This book should be read as a textbook in front of the terminal, trying out all examples as they're explained.
Now, I'm comfortably looking forward to read some more specific and advanced Python books. Highly recommended!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Good even for experienced...
Comment: I was a programmer for 15+ years and used Perl for 8 or so of those years, so although I'm a newcomer to Python I'm definitely not a newcomer to programming or to scripting languages. When I ordered this book, I was worried that it might be too basic, but the more advanced O'Reilly Python books have not been updated to Python 2.2/2.3, so I ordered Learning Python anyhow.And now that I've read it, I can highly recommend it even for experienced programmers. You will have to skim over basics in various chapters, but it's well-written and covers many topics, including 5-10 pages on 2.2's new-style classes, including static and class methods, instance slots, class properties, and __getattribute__. It refers you to Python's documentation for the details of complex topics, but still gives you an idea of the concepts in play. For example, after a couple of paragraphs on instance slots, it says, "... Slots are something of a break with Python's dynamic nature, which dictates that any name may be created by assignment. They also have additional constraints and implications that are far too complex for us to discuss here (e.g. some instances with slots may not have an attribute dictionary __dict__); see Python 2.2 release documents for details." Which I think is a good compromise. They don't fill the book with details, but they don't simply wave their hands and give you no clue as to issues outside the scope of the book. It is well-written and well-organized. It covers the core language well and gives a good taste for standard packages and many other tools including things like Pyrex and ctype. (And you won't be disappointed with Python itself. A great language!)
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