Books for Beginners

There are many books about Python now available, but some are targeted at experienced users. Here are some suggested books that try to teach Python programming. (The Python Books page has a complete list of Python books, some of which are aimed at experienced programmers.)

• Learn to Program using Python
  By Alan Gauld, author of one of the online tutorials.
• Core Python Programming
  By Wesley Chun. One reader wrote: "The author assumes little, but never talks down. He takes care to explain everything, especially background ideas and jargon. The book builds up very gently for the first half. Brief mini tutorials and/or exercise questions (with code answers) at the end of each chapter."
• How to Think Like a Computer Scientist: Learning with Python
  By Allen Downey, Jeffrey Elkner, Chris Meyers. Printed version of the online book.
• Learning Python, by Mark Lutz and David Ascher, is written for readers with some programming experience.

The following two titles are collections of sample code:

• The Python Standard Library, an electronically published book by Fredrik Lundh, examines most of the modules in Python's standard library, describing what the module does and giving a short example of its use. This book was published in book form by O'Reilly and is well worth purchasing. You can buy it from Amazon or from your local bookstore.
• The Python Cookbook, edited by Alex Martelli and David Ascher, is a collection of useful recipes for tasks ranging from the trivial to the complex.

The following two titles are reference books. Both cover the basics of the Python language, but unless you're an experienced programmer this coverage is probably too fast-moving to serve as your only tutorial. However, if you want a one-volume reference that covers the language and the standard library modules, either title is an excellent purchase.

• Python Essential Reference, by David M. Beazley, is up-to-date for Python 2.1, and packs an astonishing amount of content into around 200 pages.
• Python in a Nutshell covers Python 2.2, and covers a few of the most popular add-on modules (such as Numeric Python) as well as the standard library.