Python Programming Books

To any beginners that come across this post in the future looking for introductory Python books, I tried many. The best I found in 2021 is Paul Gries's Practical Programming: An Introduction to Computer Science Using Python 3.6 An Introduction to Computer Science Using Python 3.6 [1].

[1] https://pragprog.com/titles/gwpy3/practical-programming-thir...

Effective Python is really good. You need to already know the language though, it doesn't teach it from scratch - it's more about how to use it well.

Some that I've read and enjoyed:

- Introducing Python, 2nd Edition by Bill Lubanovic (Beginner Level)

- Python Distilled, David M. Beazley (Beginner to Intermediate Level)

- Effective Python (2nd Edition), Brett Slatkin (Intermediate Level)

- Fluent Python (2nd Edition), Luciano Ramalho (Advanced Level)

- CPython Internals, Anthony Shaw (Advanced Level)

- Architecture Patterns with Python, Harry J. W. Percival & Bob Gregory (Advanced Level)

If you're looking for a refresher that outlines Python language fundamentals, I recommend "Introducing Python, 2nd Edition" (2019) by Bill Lubanovic [0].

Another really cool introduction that's filled with intermediate tricks is "Python Distilled" by Dave Beazley [1] (2021).

A couple of nice intermediate books:

"Intuitive Python - Productive Development for Projects that Last" by David Muller [2] (2021).

"Serious Python" by Julien Danjou [3] (2018).

References:

[0]: https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/introducing-python-2nd/...

[1]: http://www.dabeaz.com/python-distilled/

[2]: https://pragprog.com/titles/dmpython/intuitive-python/

[3]: https://nostarch.com/seriouspython

For intermediate or advanced Python, David Beazely's books are great.

I don't know of any beginning Python books as good as Learning Perl was back in the day. Python has gotten to be a confusing language and maybe not even the best choice for beginners any more though. What is the best choice then? I don't know. Each is terrible in its own way.

If you are already a programmer and you are looking to learn Python (not how to program) I recommend 'Dive into Python 3'

https://diveintopython3.problemsolving.io/

It teaches the language and many of its subtleties. It is fairly good to learn Python and is free. It is not however, a book for beginners in programming, it is for programmers wanting to learn Python.

Did anyone use the MIT textbook? https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/introduction-computation-and-...

Not a book, but you might like my site https://www.inspiredpython.com/

I'm going through two Python books right now, both of which I'm enjoying:

- Python Workout: 50 ten-minute exercises. - Classic Computer Science Problems in Python.

Would strongly recommend if you are looking to up your skills in Python

https://pythonbooks.org/

Personally a big fan of Fluent Python

+1 on "Fluent Python" by Ramalho. I enjoyed and benefitted from the first edition so much that I'll get the second edition which is due to come out soon (Apr 29). I would say it targets intermediate developers more than beginners.

A beginner Python textbook, free, made by the community, in Portuguese: https://curso.grupysanca.com.br/

Robust Python and Python Distilled are both excellent and very recent.

Some books I've read and think good: 1. the whirlwind tour of python 2. the Hitchhiker's guide to python 3. Writing idiomatic Python 4. Learning Python.