for beginners and pros
The author explains well, there is a good translation in the Russian version, so you can be sure that the book will really help to understand the complexities and nuances of the language.
The author does not throw technical terms, realizing that beginners will read the book, the explanation is carried out according to the centuries-old scheme – from simple to complex.
An interesting “homework” is given, which must be done according to the examples and explanations of the current chapter or section.
The book is not boring: it has many nuances that can captivate an inquisitive beginner.
Flaws:
As in the previous case, there are almost none. Sometimes there are typos, not quite correct translation, but such cases, fortunately, are few.
Al Sweigart, Automating Routine Tasks with Python. Practical guide for beginners»
An important book for those who decide to make their lives easier by putting Python and their own brain convolutions to the service. One of the best options is just Al Sweigart, who explains everything very well about automating routine tasks. This saves a lot of time for both the developer and the company in which he works. Time, as you know, is money, so the book will help you earn money, directly or indirectly.
Advantages:
A large number of cases from the personal experience of the author.
What is shown in the book can be useful at any time, there is practically no unnecessary information.
Flaws:
Michael Dawson “Programming with Python”
Another great book for beginners that, along with the others suggested above, can really teach you a lot. And why? But because in the book the author uses a proven technique to attract readers from the world of technology – he mainly cites cases from game development.
Judging by the reviews, many readers of the book, as they say, “went in”, there are a lot of positive reviews. The book has 12 chapters, each of which deals with at least one game. The last three chapters cover graphical interfaces, graphics, sound, and animation.
Well, plus the author’s approach is very original – even instead of Hello World, he suggests printing Game Over.
Advantages:
Everything is told from a practical point of view, so if you are already familiar with the theory, you can immediately start reading.
The book does an excellent job of explaining how the language works and what it can do, despite the fact that most of the case studies are based on games.
Flaws:
In general, there are none, except for the fact that not every developer dreams of creating games. Well, since there are practically no other cases in the book, it is worth weighing the pros and cons before purchasing the book.
Books for the intermediate level
Dan Bader Pure Python. The subtleties of programming for the pros»
We recommend reading the book in the original, since inaccuracies begin already with the translation of the title. The original name is Python tricks, there is nothing about “pros” there. Well, the content is intended for mid-level developers. Pros can also find something useful for themselves, but basically it is still material for programmers who are no longer beginners, but not yet pros.
Advantages:
Almost all the contents of the book can be extremely useful to the developer in one situation or another. Those same tricks are given from the practice of the author himself, and they are really needed. In order to understand what is written, it is enough to be able to understand the basics of the language, having relatively little development experience.
Flaws:
The translation is inaccurate, so we repeat the advice: if you know English, then we recommend reading the book in the original.
Beasley and Jones “Python. Book of recipes”
The book reveals many of the nuances that developers need, if not every day, then often. In particular, the authors provide recipes that cover various topics of the language, plus practical tasks that have a very wide range of applications. Along with the theory, the authors also provide practice, that is, code examples that help you understand what’s what.
Advantages:
In a relatively simple form, complex material is presented, which can be quickly learned just thanks to the presentation.
There are examples – sections of code with explanations that you can work with yourself.
Flaws:
Harry Percival Python. Test-driven development»
One of the best books that many programmers have in their library. It reveals the nuances of test-driven development (TDD) methodology. The reader is taught how to write and run tests to build almost any part of an application. The author also shows how to develop the minimum amount of code required to pass the tests.
In general, the book is closer to the initial level in terms of the complexity of the described moments. So it can be considered important for those who are no longer a beginner, but also not a particularly experienced developer, something like that.
Advantages:
The author gives practical knowledge, in particular, teaches how to work with different tools and frameworks, including Django, Selenium, Git, jQuery and Mock.
Flaws:
Pro Books
J. Vander Plas “Python for complex tasks. Data Science and Machine Learning»
This book already deals with very complex and voluminous tasks that are quite often encountered by professionals in the course of work. The publication is a guide to computational and statistical methods for Data Science. Ideal for developers who already have good experience, as well as for those who want to increase their experience and knowledge in Data Science.
The author pays special attention to working with different types of data, including situation analysis, getting answers, creating statistical models and machine learning.
Advantages:
There are many practical examples in the book, including reading different formats into a script, converting, cleaning and manipulating data, visualizing data of a certain type.
Flaws:
Jan Eric Solem “Computer Vision Programming with Python”
Another cool book that is geared towards solving specific problems, namely computer vision. It opens up a new world for the developer, full of object recognition methods, 3D reconstruction, stereo image processing, AR, VR and other necessary and important technologies.
Advantages:
Flaws:
In general, that’s all. If you have favorite books on Python that were not included in the selection, then throw in the comments the title and the author, we will discuss! In addition, if you read something from what was included in the selection, let’s also talk, because opinions can be very different, and in the discussion you can find out a lot of useful things for yourself.
