Customer Rating: 
Summary: Now you can make Java fun
Comment: JPython is a JVM port of Python. It provides Java with generic capabilities similar to C++ templates and Ada generics, something I have been missing from the language itself [sure you can use intefaces, but they're not the same]. I knew very little about Python before reading this book, however I had read in Dr Dobbs about the potential of JPython for automating Java testing and decided to give the language a once over. I am very glad I did. A number of my fellow developers have started using JPython now and I know that it has been saving me a lot of time. Excellent reading, especially if your main interest is in picking up enough [realistic] knowledge about Python to use JPython effectively in simplifying many commonly tedious Java tasks [such as testing].
Customer Rating:
Summary: Excellent (as long as you can already program)
Comment: I already knew C++ (and a little of other languages), so this was not a problem for me, but the book does assume that you already understand most basic programming concepts (and if you don't understand Object-Oriented programming you might have a little trouble at first, though they do give a good explanation). Of course, I can't really tell that part, just my impression. If you can do something as trivial as VB, I guess you'll be fine.Other than that, this is an EXCELLENT book. I read though it in about 3 days, and it was very effective. For example, the day after I finished, I programmed a Python script for work that used COM, despite never having programmed anything in Windows before let alone used COM). It was that good. And it doesn't have an OS-bias (despite that little bit on COM), which is good and really fits the language.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Beautifully organized; blows "Learning Perl" away
Comment: This is a miraculously good book. The writing is crystal-clear and the examples are well-chosen. Best of all, the book's organization is just about perfect.I knew a smidgen of Python before starting this book, but "Learning Python" helped me understand and extend what I already knew. So much has clicked into place now. I'm amazed that anyone would prefer "Learning Perl" to this book. Perhaps that reader was holding a grudge about "Programming Python" -- admittedly, not the best book in the world. :-) While the first edition of "Learning Perl" was nicely written, the second edition was an absolute mess. Schwartz and Christiansen tried to shoehorn too much new information into the old chapter organization, and the result was a nasty tangled mass of a book. I wouldn't wish "Learning Perl" on anybody. Those Perl guys have a lot to learn from "Learning Python". Want to learn a programming language? Start with "Learning Python"!
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Learning Python?
Comment: I purchased the Mark Lutz's first book, Programming Python, and found it impossible to comprehend. So then I heard about a new book called learning Python, which was more of a tutorial-style book. I bought it immediately, eager to learn the language which I have heard so much about, and to my dissapointment, it seemed to be the same as Programming Python, only shorter. If you really want to learn a programming language, get Learning Perl by Randal Schwartz and Tom Christiansen. Good luck!
Customer Rating:
Summary: is to Python what the Llama book is to Perl
Comment: An excellent tutorial to get started in doing Python work. The sections are nicely ordered along with plenty of handy reference tables and explanations. Not only will this book tell you *what* to do, but *why* you're doing it - unlike so many other so-called tutorials. After getting this book, I was getting Real Work done in Python in a matter of hours.
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