Highly Recommended Books on Python

Highly Recommended Books on Python: Here is my own compilation of highly recommended books about Python programming language. They are classified according to user’s experience level so take your pick:

Beginner:

Learning Python
By: Mark Lutz

With this hands-on book, you can master the fundamentals of the core Python language quickly and efficiently, whether you're new to programming or just new to Python. Once you finish, you will know enough about the language to use it in any application domain you choose. Learning Python is based on material from author Mark Lutz's popular training courses, which he's taught over the past decade. Each chapter is a self-contained lesson that helps you thoroughly understand a key component of Python before you continue. Along with plenty of annotated examples, illustrations, and chapter summaries, every chapter also contains Brain Builder, a unique section with practical exercises and review quizzes that let you practice new skills and test your understanding as you go.


Python For Dummies
By: Stef Maruch, Aahz Maruch

Python For Dummies is the quick-and-easy guide to getting the most out of this robust program. This hands-on book will show you everything you need to know about building programs, debugging code, and simplifying development, as well as defining what actions it can perform. You’ll wrap yourself around all of its advanced features and become an expert Python user in no time.


Python
By: Chris Fehily

The quick and easy way to master Python for Internet and Intranet programming-- Visual, step-by-step guide to the popular Python programming language-- Cross -platform coverage for the Mac, Windows, and Unix environments-- Teaches techniques for cookies, session management, and integration with XML. Visual QuickStart Guide helps readers master the language with simple steps, screen shots, and clear explanations. With the foundation laid, the book brings the Python language to real-world usage in Web development and is suitable for beginning to intermediate users who want to join the Python revolution.



Intermediate:

Python Cookbook
By: Alex Martelli, David Ascher

The Python Cookbook is a collection of problems, solutions, and practical examples for Python programmers, written by Python programmers. Over the past year, members of the Python community have contributed material to an online repository of Python recipes hosted by ActiveState. This book contains the best of those recipes, accompanied by overviews and background material by key Python figures. The recipes highlight Python best practices and can be used directly in day-to-day programming tasks, as a source of ideas, or as a way to learn more about Python. The book contains a foreword by Guido van Rossum, the creator of Python.


Programming Python
By: Mark Lutz

Whether you're a novice or an advanced practitioner, you'll find this refreshed book more than lives up to its reputation. Programming Python, 3rd Edition, teaches you the right way to code. It explains Python language syntax and programming techniques in a clear and concise manner, with numerous examples that illustrate both correct usage and common idioms. By reading this comprehensive guide, you'll learn how to apply Python in real-world problem domains such as: GUI programming Internet scripting Parallel processing Database management Networked applications Programming Python. Along the way, you'll also learn how to use the Python language in realistically scaled programs--concepts such as Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) and code reuse are recurring side themes throughout this text. If you're interested in Python programming, then this O'Reilly classic needs to be within arm's reach.


Beginning Python: From Novice to Professional
By: Magnus Lie Hetland

Beginning Python: From Novice to Professional is the most comprehensive book on the Python ever written. Based on Practical Python, this newly revised book is both an introduction and practical reference for a swath of Python-related programming topics, including addressing language internals, database integration, network programming, and web services. Advanced topics, such as extending Python and packaging/distributing Python applications, are also covered.



Advanced:

Dive Into Python
By: Mark Pilgrim

Whether you're an experienced programmer looking to get into Python or grizzled Python veteran who remembers the days when you had to import the string module, "Dive Into Python" is your 'desert island'. "Dive Into Python" is a hands-on guide to the Python language. Each chapter starts with a real, complete code sample, proceeds to pick it apart and explain the pieces, and then puts it all back together in a summary at the end. This is the perfect resource for you if you like to jump into languages fast and get going right away.


Python in a Nutshell
By: Alex Martelli

Ask any Python aficionado and you'll hear that Python programmers have it all: an elegant language that offers object-oriented programming support, a readable, maintainable syntax, integration with C components, and an enormous collection of precoded standard library and extension modules. Moreover, Python is easy to learn but powerful enough to take on the most ambitious programming challenges. But what Python programmers have lacked is one concise and clear reference resource, with the appropriate measure of guidance in how best to use Python's great power. Now Python in a Nutshell fills this need. Python in a Nutshell provides a solid, no-nonsense quick reference to information that programmers rely on the most. This latest addition to the best-selling "In a Nutshell" series will immediately earn its place in any Python programmer's library.


Python Essential Reference
By: David M. Beazley

Python Essential Reference, 3rd Edition, is a comprehensive reference to the Python programming language. The focus of this latest edition is to add coverage of significant new features and new library modules added to the language over the past five years. Clearly written with concise organization, the new features covered include new style classes, unification of types and classes, xmlrpclip, intertools, bz2 and optparse, making it the most up-to-date Python book on the market.


If there are other good and helpful Python programming books that you know of but were not included here, feel free to drop us a comment.