Python by Example: Learning to Program in 150 Challenges

This book is excellent, but I can see why it got some skeptical reviews. Here's the quick version: it's amazing for what it is, maybe even perfect — but if it isn't for you it REALLY won't be for you.First, you should know that this is a very basic book. It assumes no programming knowledge -- and it doesn't try to teach deep computer science principles or what's going on under the hood.Second, after going through this book, you will still be a beginner in Python. That's not bad, but be aware that this is just a taster, not a comprehensive guide. And I mean not just really sophisticated concepts, but some things that are kind of basic to Python. I was surprised to see exceptions ("try" and "catch") not covered, for example.And third, this book takes a particular teaching approach, with a little intro text but where the learning is intended to be in the doing, with understanding coming from following the progression of challenges.If you're already familiar with programming but new to Python, try The Quick Python Book instead. (It's excellent!). That's also a good choice if you're an intermediate Python programmer looking for the next level. (But if THIS book is all you've got under your belt, it might be a bit much still.)If you want something that really explains as it goes on, with questions being "knowledge checks" at the end of chapters, this definitely isn't for you.But, if you're new to programming, and interested in learning on your own, and get impatient with a lot of theory, this is the right book to start.You don't need to take my word for it! My high-school-age daughter has been vaguely interested in learning to code for a while, but I've never found a good way to teach her. Trying to share with ad-hoc lessons wasn't working (too much "yes, there's a great way to do what you are suggesting but I need to introduce five new concepts!" from me!). Other books were either too much text or too many assumptions -- or just at the wrong level.This one, though — I gave it to her and two days later she's halfway done, proudly showing me her results, and asking good questions. Clearly, this clicked.I just wish there were several more follow-up volumes covering the next steps!

Although I have many years of programming experience, I find that the easiest way to learn a new computer language is by looking at samples of code. This book does not go into the more complex features of Python, but it gives enough examples to get me, at least, going. I learned enough to get some simple programs working.This volume would be especially helpful to anyone new to coding applications. As an experienced coder, I skipped about half of the examples that would be helpful for beginners.

I have other Python books, and I have knowledge of other programming languages (R and SAS). I can read about something all day, but it doesn't really click until I do it myself. I just needed a set of exercises to drill syntax into my brain. These exercises build on each other, but continue to drill the syntax into your brain as you go so you don't have to refer to a cheat sheet. This book doesn't offer much in explanations so you'll definitely want this to supplement another text (I like the one by John Zelle), but it does give you the solutions. There are minor formatting issues, but it's nothing that hinders the function of the book.

This is a thin book. But it is taller and wider than other programming books. There is very little python instruction in this book. I like that. There are lots of questions for you to answer by writing python code. I am using this to prepare for a python certification. It seems perfect for practicing your code writing. Better than other books such as "Impractical Python Projects" or "Python Crash Course".

The author not only wrote a great book introducing Python...She took the time to CRAFT the LAYOUT and DESIGN of EVERY PAGE!This is the most BEAUTIFUL textbook I have seen in a very long time!If I have to hand someone new to Python a text... THIS WILL BE IT.

This is the perfect book for learning Python from scratch. I am about half way through and am thoroughly enjoying it. Moreover, I'm really learning the language by actively programming based on the scenarios given.

Not a bad book for absolute beginners. But problem lies already in the pretentious title and subtitle. You shouldn't need to open the book, to understand its very limited scope.(1) This is for absolute beginners, for total novice programmers, but I'd also say FOR KIDS. You get big cute illustrations with dressed-up animals. And basic statements are presented on multiple pages, like the basic 2 + 2 = 4 in elementary school.(2) That's also a very short little introduction into the Python programming language. But no OOP, just basic statements and a few very popular frameworks or libraries. Pretending you learn Python with this material (as its title implies) is an overstatement.(3) That's also a very basic introduction to programming in general, as the language is rather introduced through a series of very basic elementary computer problems. Pretending you learn to actually program with these "challenges" is also a huge overstatement. Here are three examples of so-called "challenges": "60. Draw a square", "61. Draw a triangle", "62. Draw a circle"!...To conclude, not a bad book FOR KIDS, but it just scratches the surface of both programming in general, and learning a specific programming language (i.e. Python).

Buy this book after the Python crash course by Eric Matthes. Excellent practical examples. But classes are not covered. Overall 98%.