Sams Teach Yourself Python in 24 Hours (Teach Yourself -- 24 Hours)

By Ivan Van Laningham

Book Overview

In the crowded field of scripting languages, Python has found a niche as the best tool for learning object-oriented design principles. Several elegantly produced books in the past few years, notably David M. Beazley's thorough Python Essential Reference and John E. Grayson's durable Python and Tkinter Programming, have established a foundation of documentation that makes Python a buildable platform for rapid prototyping, as well as good programming practice. The appearance in April 2000 of a Sams Teach Yourself Python in 24 Hours is evidence of mainstream support. Author Ivan van Laningham has the happy task of teaching an eminently teachable language, and his passion for Python is evident throughout. The 24-chapter recipe is arbitrary, but the book has a well-chosen tripartite subdivision into sections on basic operation, object-oriented design, and GUIs, each of which fulfills its mission. Each "hour" chapter ends with a summary, a Q & A period, a quiz with answers, and, for the ambitious, exercises. The first hour asks the essential question, "Why Python?" The answer is a collection of flattering adjectives--flexible, extensible, embeddable, elegant, clear, simple--but the author fails to provide a comparison of Python with Tcl, Java, and Perl. Python has a competitive advantage, as found in Part II on object-oriented design basics and strategies. While other languages use o-o principles, none has subsumed it into the mind of the language as much as Python. Van Laningham's book is illustrated with visually uninteresting black-and-white screen dumps from his Windows Python shell. An early lesson on adding '1' to the decimal representation of a googol (10^100) reveals that Python can print the answer in decimal notation. (Try it with Perl to see what happens.) The modular nature of Python is introduced transparently by incorporating the trigonometric math library. Teach Yourself Python in 24 Hours is weakest in its editing. Mistakes in cross-referencing are distracting, and Van Laningham's loose, informal English often obfuscates his points. Code snippets in the early chapters grow into major listings by the middle, and proper annotation begins to slacken. A 950-line listing in chapter 16--which is downloadable from the inscrutable www.pauahtun.org--has few annotations. May future editions be shorter, sharper, and cleaner, but just as passionate. --Peter Leopold This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0672317354
• ISBN13: 9780672317354
• Release Date: May 2000
• Publisher: Sams
• Length: 510 Pages
• Weight: 2.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 1.3" x 7.5"

Customer Reviews

Good explanation of OO concepts

I already own several Python books, but I bought this one because of its clear explanation and examples of Object Oriented programming concepts. Python is easy to learn, and the first 2/3 of this book include easy to follow lessons through the basics. The last 1/3 of the book covers GUI programming in Tkinter. Many people might have benefited more from coverage of CGI programming than GUI programming. There is very little...

Good introduction, with some reservations

I choose this as a companion text to the documents which come with the Python download. The two compliment each other. In general, the text is clear and the examples in the tables give a good idea of the material in the text. The print in the tables, however, is very small and in a light typeface which is extremely difficult to read. The text needs to be covered twice and read carefully. It also helps if you have any...

Well written for a beginner book

What I like: - Easy to understand. The author did a good job. - Casual writing style. (You learn a thing or two about Zen.) - Includes enough ref info on its topics, but not too detailed/technical.What I don't like: the editorial works. - Sample codes/output are presented as computer screen dumps. The color (gray scale) is hard to read, and characters are small. - The book description touts CGI as one of the book topics,...