| There are many texts available to help you learn Python or refine your Python knowledge, from introductory texts all the way to quite formal language descriptions. We recommend the following books for general information about Python (all these books cover at least Python 2.2, unless otherwise noted): Python Programming for the Absolute Beginner, by Michael Dawson (Thomson Course Technology), is a hands-on, highly accessible introduction to Python for people who have never programmed. Learning Python, by Mark Lutz and David Ascher (O'Reilly), is a thorough introduction to the fundamentals of Python. Practical Python, by Magnus Lie Hetland (APress), is an introduction to Python which also develops, in detail, ten fully worked out, substantial programs in many different areas. Dive into Python, by Mark Pilgrim (APress), is a fast-paced introduction to Python for experienced programmers, and it is also freely available for online reading and downloading (http://diveintopython.org/). Python Standard Library, by Fredrik Lundh (O'Reilly), provides a use case for each module in the rich library that comes with every standard Python distribution (in the current first edition, the book only covers Python up to 2.0). Programming Python, by Mark Lutz (O'Reilly), is a thorough rundown of Python programming techniques (in the current second edition, the book only covers Python up to 2.0). Python Essential Reference, by David Beazley (New Riders), is a quick reference that focuses on the Python language and the core Python libraries (in the current second edition, the book only covers Python up to 2.1). Python in a Nutshell, by Alex Martelli (O'Reilly), is a comprehensive quick reference to the Python language and the key libraries used by most Python programmers.
In addition, several more special-purpose books can help you explore particular aspects of Python programming. Which books you will like best depends a lot on your areas of interest. From personal experience, the editors can recommend at least the following: Python and XML, by Christopher A. Jones and Fred L. Drake, Jr. (O'Reilly), offers thorough coverage of using Python to read, process, and transform XML. Jython Essentials, by Samuele Pedroni and Noel Rappin (O'Reilly), is the authoritative book on Jython, the port of Python to the JVM. Particularly useful if you already know some (or a lot of) Java. Game Programming with Python, by Sean Riley (Charles River Media), covers programming computer games with Python, all the way from advanced graphics to moderate amounts of "artificial intelligence." Python Web Programming, by Steve Holden (New Riders), covers building networked systems using Python, with introductions to many other related technologies (databases, HTTP, HTML, etc.). Very suitable for readers with none to medium experience with these fields, but has something to teach everyone.
In addition to these books, other important sources of information can help explain some of the code in the recipes in this book. We've pointed out the information that seemed particularly relevant in the "See Also" sections of each recipe. In these sections, we often refer to the standard Python documentation: most often the Library Reference, sometimes the Reference Manual, and occasionally the Tutorial. This documentation is freely available in a variety of forms: On the python.org web site (at http://www.python.org/doc/), which always contains the most up-to-date documentation about Python. On the pydoc.org web site (at http://pydoc.org/), accompanied by module-by-module documentation of the standard library automatically generated by the very useful pydoc tool. In Python itself. Recent versions of Python boast a nice online help system, which is worth exploring if you've never used it. Just type help( ) at the interactive Python interpreter prompt to start exploring. As part of the online help in your Python installation. ActivePython's installer, for example, includes a searchable Windows help file. The standard Python distribution currently includes HTML pages, but there are plans to include a similar Windows Help file in future releases.
We have not included specific section numbers in our references to the standard Python documentation, since the organization of these manuals can change from release to release. You should be able to use the table of contents and indexes to find the relevant material. For the Library Reference, in particular, the Module Index (an alphabetical list of all standard library modules, each module name being a hyperlink to the Library Reference documentation for that module) is invaluable. Similarly, we have not given specific pointers in our references to Python in a Nutshell: that book is still in its first edition (covering Python up to 2.2) at the time of this writing, but by the time you're reading, a second edition (covering Python 2.3 and 2.4) is likely to be forthcoming, if not already published. |
