Concise python book recommendation

Question

Can somebody recommend a good python learning book, along the lines of "Learning Python", but a little more "quick", (more concise). Although I like "Learning" series from O'Reilly, with Python they've really taken their time. Preferably something up to 300-400 pages ?

I'd be grateful for all your advices.

Answer 1

Dive Into Python is fairly concise - and available for free, online. My printed copy ends on page 400 (including appendices but excluding the index).

Answer 2

You could try "Python in a Nutshell" by Alex Martelli. All books in the series have a quick introduction to the language (the rest of the book is an API reference). I like the "in a Nutshell" series a lot because it works for someone who already knows some other programming language and has very little time to read -- but YMMV...

Answer 3

Have you looked at the official python tutorial http://docs.python.org/tutorial/? It starts quick enough and covers most of the basics. That's how I started learning Python.

Answer 4

There are quite a few good books online. These have a broad scope, similar to O'Reilly's "Learning Python":

• Dive into Python by Mark Pilgrim
• How to think like a computer scientist: Learning with Python by Jeffrey Elkner, Allen B. Downey, and Chris Meyers
• Python Programming is a WikiBook
• The Python Tutorial is the "official" introduction to the language

Python.org maintains two lists of for learning python, depending on your level of programming expertise:

• Python for Non-programmers
• Python for Programmers

I highly recommend "Python Essential Reference" by David Beazley. You might find this sufficient if you're an experienced programmer and want a concise and comprehensive overview of the language. If you're a novice programmer this probably won't provide enough hand-holding. While I learned Python from other books, this is—by far—the most useful python book I own. Some notes:

• This is a reference book not a tutorial
• If you're an experienced programmer, this should be enough to learn the language
• If you're a novice programmer, start with a different tutorial
• The first 125 pages are a complete overview of the language. It's not a tutorial, but it covers the language from top to bottom
• The rest of the book is a comprehensive and extremely useful reference
• The 3rd edition covers up to python 2.4, but not beyond.
• The 4th edition is due for release in July 2009

Answer 5

First, if the usual searches have come up with answers you can't use, put that in the question up front. Otherwise, at best you'll get all the answers you can't use all over again. (At worst your question will be closed so fast nobody will notice it.) I'd suggest editing the question.

Second, your comment says that "Dive Into Python" starts with material too advanced for you. This suggests that a more verbose introduction might be good for you.

Third, the book you want simply may not exist. You have rejected the two main recommendations, one as too verbose and one as too advanced. There may be a niche for something in between "Dive Into Python" and "Learning Python", but there may not be a book there, or all the books there may be bad. You are very likely asking for a book that simply doesn't exist, since you have problems with the usual recommendations.

Answer 6

Python Visual Quickstart Guide

See my answer here