The Bottom Line
The ultimate book for all but the most experienced Python developers; teaches the principles of rapid application development through scripting using the Python programming language.
Pros
- Superb tutorials with useful sample code
- In-depth Internet / network programming coverage
- At 1200+ pages, huge but not bloated
Cons
- Lacks coverage of unit testing tools, techniques
- Poor choice of cover art
Description
- Part 1 covers System Interfaces including file and directory tools and threads.
- Part 2 discusses GUI Programming with the cross-platform TkInter package, with examples.
- Internet scripting, both client- and server-side, plus advanced topics like Zope, appear in Part 3.
- Part 4 unveils other assorted topics such as databases and text processing techniques.
- Part 5 explains techniques for integrating Python with other languages, primarily 'C' and C++.
- Some thoughts on the role of Python in the software development process appear in Part 6.
Guide Review - "Programming Python, Second Edition" by Mark Lutz
O'Reilly chose once again to put a snake on the cover of Programming Python. Any developer worth their salt knows that Python the scripting language was not named after any species of snake. Nevertheless, this book is so good that such a minor flaw is easily forgiveable.
Python is the best language available for those who want to study Internet and other network programming, and this book is the single best introduction to that language. Designed as a teaching language, Python has involved to become a full-featured application development environment that also happens to support integration with systems languages like 'C' and Java. In addition to networking, this book covers GUI programming, system interfaces, and more.
