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Python teaching book recommendations: 3.3+ and with exercises

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  Python teaching book recommendations: 3.3+ and with exercises Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2013-05-03 00:36 +1000
    Re: Python teaching book recommendations: 3.3+ and with exercises Alister <alister.ware@ntlworld.com> - 2013-05-03 10:49 +0000
      Re: Python teaching book recommendations: 3.3+ and with exercises Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2013-05-03 21:09 +1000
      Re: Python teaching book recommendations: 3.3+ and with exercises TP <wingusr@gmail.com> - 2013-05-03 07:54 -0700
      Re: Python teaching book recommendations: 3.3+ and with exercises Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2013-05-30 22:32 +1000

#44632 — Python teaching book recommendations: 3.3+ and with exercises

One of my younger brothers, still school age, is to be studying some
aspect of computing for the next term or two. I strongly recommended
he learn Python (it has a bit more future than studying the internals
of OS/2), and my/his father then asked me what book I'd recommend him
to study through. I know this has come up a few times, but searching
back in my emails didn't give a clear answer.

Whether it's an ebook or in paper doesn't matter, but there need to be
exercises that the student can perform on his own, and then an
external tutor (aka my dad) then check up on. Python 3 is a must;
preferably something designed for 3.3+ as that's what he'll be using.
Beyond that, I was just asked to recommend "the best", which is
unfortunately vague... but I gather they'll be deferring to the
expertise of the list in figuring out what that means :)

So, within those not-very-many restrictions, what would you all
recommend? Let's get a nice discussion going and see where it leads us
(most likely to a resident troll ranting about a favorite topic, but
hey, maybe Dihedral will come out with some nugget of wisdom for us)!

Chris Angelico

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#44663

On Fri, 03 May 2013 00:36:48 +1000, Chris Angelico wrote:

> One of my younger brothers, still school age, is to be studying some
> aspect of computing for the next term or two. I strongly recommended he
> learn Python (it has a bit more future than studying the internals of
> OS/2), and my/his father then asked me what book I'd recommend him to
> study through. I know this has come up a few times, but searching back
> in my emails didn't give a clear answer.
> 
> Whether it's an ebook or in paper doesn't matter, but there need to be
> exercises that the student can perform on his own, and then an external
> tutor (aka my dad) then check up on. Python 3 is a must; preferably
> something designed for 3.3+ as that's what he'll be using. Beyond that,
> I was just asked to recommend "the best", which is unfortunately
> vague... but I gather they'll be deferring to the expertise of the list
> in figuring out what that means :)
> 
> So, within those not-very-many restrictions, what would you all
> recommend? Let's get a nice discussion going and see where it leads us
> (most likely to a resident troll ranting about a favorite topic, but
> hey, maybe Dihedral will come out with some nugget of wisdom for us)!
> 
> Chris Angelico

A guy of your abilities & knowledge, why not write your own. you could 
use the experience of teaching your brother to hone it to perfection.

Ok this was slightly tounge in cheek ( but not intended to be in any way 
offensive).  I will now offer to put my money where my mouth is an make a 
contribution if you were to put it up on kickstarter.



-- 
"Cogito ergo I'm right and you're wrong."
-- Blair Houghton

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#44664

On Fri, May 3, 2013 at 8:49 PM, Alister <alister.ware@ntlworld.com> wrote:
> A guy of your abilities & knowledge, why not write your own. you could
> use the experience of teaching your brother to hone it to perfection.
>
> Ok this was slightly tounge in cheek ( but not intended to be in any way
> offensive).  I will now offer to put my money where my mouth is an make a
> contribution if you were to put it up on kickstarter.

Not at all offensive... it just implies that I have time to spend,
during the day, somewhere in between holding down my own full-time job
:) I'm hoping to be involved as little as possible in the day-to-day
of it, though of course I'll be as happy to answer his questions as I
am to answer them here on the list. Also, the suggestion implies that
I'm a Python expert, which isn't exactly true; I actually have not
done many nontrivial Python programs (for instance, I've never used
_any_ of the GUI toolkits available). Hence my hope of finding a book
written by an expert and recommended by experts. :)

ChrisA

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#44668

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[Just a note, all the book links in my original post have complete table of
contents listing, so don't just take my word on their suitability.]

Here's some
I missed:

Programming in Python 3, 2nd Edition - Mark Summerfield (Addison-Wesley,
2009) [1a]. Exercises. Solutions available online. At a quick glance I'd
say the exercises are also better for the beginner. Less of a computer
science orientation?

Learning Python, 4th Edition, Mark Lutz (Oreilly,2009) [1]. The 5th edition
[2] is supposed to come out in June. Python 2.6 & 3.x. Has exercises at the
end of every Part and answers in Appendix B. Also has "Test Your Knowledge"
quizzes & answers. 1200+ pages! Too overwhelming for a first Python book?
Ideal for a 2nd or 3rd however.

After seeing your response, I'd say, just one book isn't really going to
work. So I would recommend:

1) Quickly go through Python for Kids. While it may say it's for kids, it
actually covers quite a bit of ground (including writing a game using
tkinter). I doubt it's so easy as to be boring. The lazy can also download
sample code and solutions to the Programming Puzzles from the webpage.

2) Then Summerfield's Programming in Python 3. It has a lot more detail and
also
spends time on the Python Standard Library.

Or maybe Think Python. A *lot* drier presentation than Python for Kids --
after all, the subtitle which I forgot to mention is "How to Think Like a
Computer Scientist". Newer than Summerfield
, but only 1/3 the length
. Since I've only skimmed both I find it hard to recommend one over the
other.

3) Finally, when he *really* wants to learn all the gory details about
Python programming, tackle Learning Python (and by that time hopefully the
5th edition will be out).

Once you've "learned"
P
ython then I would also recommend Programming Python, 4e - Mark Lutz
(Oreilly,2010) [3] for detailed info on using some of the standard modules.
Also Python Cookbook: Recipes for Mastering Python 3 - Beazley & Jone
(OReilly, 2013) [4].

[Off Topic] --------

Depending on his age and what else he is learning at school, I also kinda
think NumPy/SciPy/Matplotlib can be very enlightening.

SciPy and NumPy - E. Bressert (O'Reilly, 2013) [5]. A brief overview.

NumPy 1.5 Beginner's Guide - I. Idris (Packt, 2011) [6]

NumPy Cookbook - I. Idris (Packt, 2012) [7]

Already started back in February and ending in a month, there is MIT's free
online
video
edX course "6.00x: Introduction to Computer Science and Programming" [8]
which uses Python 2.7 and the book "Introduction to Computation and
Programming Using Python (Spring 2013 edition)" by John Guttag [9]. This is
also viewable free online if you are registered for the course. Estimated
effort 12 hours/week, eeek!


[1a] http://www.qtrac.eu/py3book.html

[1] http://shop.oreilly.com/product/9780596158071.do

[2] http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920028154.do

[3] http://shop.oreilly.com/product/9780596158118.do

[4] http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920027072.do

[5] http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920020219.do

[6]
http://www.packtpub.com/numpy-1-5-using-real-world-examples-beginners-guide/book

[7] http://www.packtpub.com/numpy-for-python-cookbook/book

[8] https://www.edx.org/courses/MITx/6.00x/2013_Spring/about

[9]
http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/introduction-computation-and-programming-using-python

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#46472

On Sat, May 4, 2013 at 12:54 AM, TP <wingusr@gmail.com> wrote:
> Or maybe Think Python. A *lot* drier presentation than Python for Kids --
> after all, the subtitle which I forgot to mention is "How to Think Like a
> Computer Scientist". Newer than Summerfield
> , but only 1/3 the length
> . Since I've only skimmed both I find it hard to recommend one over the
> other.

Many thanks to those who responded.

A decision has been reached, and Think Python is being used. We'll see
how it goes!

I knew I could trust this list for good advice :)

ChrisA

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