Customer Rating: 
Summary: Excellent introduction to Python for experienced programmers
Comment: Not recommended for newbie programmers since the authors assume a knowledgeable reader. But for experienced programmers who have used other languages, the excercises at the end of each chapter serve to inculcate unique Python characteristics in your mind quickly. I like the abstract approach better than the wordy 'learn-by-doing-examples' approach which I believe just creates fluff in a book. It would be accurate to call this book a 'Learn Python in X days' and at the end of those X days you can truly say that you do know Python (the language) very well. But this is a testament to Python's simplicity & lack of idiosyncracies as well.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: NEW 2nd Edition is better than a 5, revised review
Comment: The new 2nd Edition is 10 times better than the 1st Edition, which I reviewed earlier. Please note that the reviews on this 2nd Edition are mixed with the reviews of the poorer 1st Edition. But they should be considered separate books -- because this new one is such a remarkable improvement over the first.This is the BEST BOOK SO FAR FOR UNDERSTANDING PYTHON BASICS AT A DETAILED LEVEL. It is a delight to read, the explanations are very clear, and the material is dense: every paragraph has something technical and interesting to say, at a fair level of depth. For me, this book is the only Python book that sets off a little lightbulb in my head on WHY things work the way they do in Python. Also, this is the best work by Mark Lutz so far. He appears to be the major writer in this book (discussing the Python Core), while David Ascher worked on "the Outer Layers." Ascher also was co-writer on the Python Cookbook. The 1st Edition was superficial in my mind. I had originally ranked the 1st Edition as a 3 out of 5. But this 2nd Edition reflects the authors' training and writing of other books and materials and clearly is a 5 or better. This 2nd Edition takes you through version 2.2 of Python and discusses many aspects of version 2.3. This was very important for me as I wanted to know about the many changes in 2.0 and 2.2. I recommend this book most highly. Its required for learning Python and would make an excellent teacher's reference, particularly great are the exercises with answers and more discussion in the Appendix. John Dunbar
Sugar Land, TX
April, 2004
Customer Rating:
Summary: A book that speaks YOUR language!
Comment: Awesome python resource. Picking up the intrinsic details of python is made a SNAP with this book. *Finally* a book comes along that has relevant orginization from cover to cover. The book takes you through it all with so much ease you leave the chapters nodding your head. To add more frosting on the cake, the sections on applications, including the Tkinter GUI and CGI, are what make this book lie next to my 'bibles' on the shelf. They teach you why to do it, how to do it, and what you can do with it!This book is especially perfect for all of us perl/c fellows who want to stop putting off learning this exciting language. (you know who you are!) The book understands the position we are in! (and includes some helpful correlations c in many places) in a word: WOW.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Good introduction to Python, but don't buy it
Comment: Lutz's book is a pretty good coverage of the material, and is worthy of the O'Reilly name. However, you're even better off buying Harms & McDonald's "The Quick Python Book", published by Manning. It's less dry, more interesting, and just a better book.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Geared towards first time programmers...
Comment: I would have preferred to give this book 3.5 start, but oh well. I think my opinion of this book would have been better if I was a member of its target audience. I picked it up ( ) about six months ago, and I only had the option of either it or Programming Python (also by Mark Lutz).After getting through the first couple chapters I became a little restless because of the rate at which it progress's through the language. It falls into the same category as most other introductory level books, it presents both the language and programming as if never before seen by the reader. I ended up getting getting Beazley's Python Reference, which I was quite happy with. But the one thing I do have to give Mr. Lutz credit for are the "Gotchas" section at the end of every chapter. I think Python is a terrific language, and it incredibly fun to program with, but there are a few things about it that are a little... mmm... odd, i guess. Lutz points them out whereas in a reference type manual they would be presented and a feature of the language rather than something that might trip you up. There's also something to be said about his later chapters that try and present some of your options, as far as what you can do now that you know Python. A couple of other books I've read, i come away feeling.... "ok.... so what?" You spend all that time learning syntax and data structures, but there's no sampling of their application to anything. If you've programmed very little (or not at all) get this book, Python is an excellent language to start out on. You don't have to mess around with variable types and pointers which can be a little frustrating in the beginning. Lutz's book is the best to start out with.
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