Python Crash Course, 2nd Edition: A Hands-On, Project-Based Introduction to Programming

I am a beginner/intermediate Python programmer with many holes in my knowledge; thus I am using this book both for reference and for systematic self-teaching. I've never seen such a thorough, comprehensive, and easy to use table of contents and index in any technical book. This makes the book as easy to use as a reference as it is a teaching tool through building projects. This author, who is a trained teacher, clearly has a rationale behind laying out every concept. It's no wonder it's been translated into several languages and is a best seller. The form factor, typeface, and spacing are also carefully planned, as each page draws the eye in. Another note of interest is that I, perhaps like many people, tend not to want to learn through building someone else's projects. I just want to learn what I need to build my own! Thus when I take online courses, I avoid those that are project based. But a physical book can make it worthwhile to build the projects, because doing so makes it an even better reference afterward. That is, the projects become old friends rather than throw-away. I only thought of this now, looking at this book, because I am confident that if any teacher/author can make me build their project, this author can. As programmers, we all heavily use google to find answers. I am happy to now have a physical book at my side. And just to make this book even better, it comes with lots of free meta materials which the author is actively maintaining. This book is a find.

First, I just want to say thank you for allowing multiple chapters in your free kindle preview! I get so frustrated when I go to buy a new score (music) book. Just this week I purchased a Halloween easy piano book. It only shows the cover and the index. Now one is going to steal any music if you show two or three pages of different scores. But, it lets me know if I've at the level to be able to play it. Which brings me to this book. I have many beginner Python books. I wanted to teach a friend python and couldn't really recommend a book. On Kindle, I saw this had a free preview. If it didn't I wouldn't have purchased this book. But, it had I think four free chapters. I read chapters two and three. And was hooked. Now...I am compltely paperless. I do everything by PDF. However, I'm a book person. I like having a physical book. I've tried e-books but it's just not the same. I ordered the paper book and while it was shipped I was able to keep reading thanks to the free preview. The book is awesome. If you have NO programming background at all. This book is definitely for you. And it's written to where you can understand it with real-world examples that are relatable. I have many of the De-Mystifying books from McGraw. What some of those authors were thinking...I have no idea. The real-world example they give are not relatable to a normal human. This book will get you quickly up-to-speed and programming in Python! It really is a crash course that people can understand! Thanks for writing such a great book! I really enjoyed it!

So far I've only made it to "for loops" chapter 4; but I think this is a really good book. I had an online class from a local University and this book has covered somethings that the class did not. Not that what the book covered and the class didn't has been major; but is interesting that only having reached chapter 4 in the book that there are things the class left out. So far the biggest change between this book and the class I took is that the book does a much better job of explaining for loops. I even watched a video on Youtube to teach you Python with no experience and even that did not do as good a job of explaining why a for loop is written the way it is. Being that the class I took was online and was one of those classes done in half the time (warp speed) I didn't bother to ask why a for loop is written the way it is I just wrote it and followed the class examples (and yes I passed the class with an A but Python is not my first programming language). I feel way more confident in learning Python after the book did such a good job of explaining for loops that as I continue with the book I believe it will explain things better then the class I took or the video I watched. On a side note the class I took, as all college classes I have taken do, required a book and that book just didn't do a good job of explaining for loops (go figure). You might be wondering why am I using this book if I took an online class and the answer is it has been awhile since I took that class so I need a refresher. Also the college that I took that class from doesn't offer another a following Python class to take unless you sign up for a degree program (and I already have a degree I just want to become proficient in Python). I would recommend that if you want to learn Python to use in a job to take at least one class from a college or another way to get proof that you learned Python other than studying it on your own. Also another reason to learn from a book with no class attached to it is you can learn at your own pace. Now I could learn from the book that I bought for the college course since the class only went so far into the book; but I just didn't find that book to be very well written and full of information one doesn't really need to learn how to program with Python. I feel like a "college" course book has a lot of bloat while a book like this one is more straight forward. A book like this one survives and sells or not because it is good etc while a college course book is chosen by the teacher or school regardless of the reviews it got. So after this extremely long review I would recommend this book; but I think one does need something (a class, certificate etc) to show proof that one has at least some Python knowledge outside of ones own studying.

My background is in JS, so I was looking for something that would both help me navigate installing Python3, learning the language syntax and differences in rules, and delve a little deeper in classes & objects. So far, it's clear that this is set up for absolute beginners, and I wouldn't call it a "crash" course. It's extremely thorough about walking you through common syntax errors you'll probably make on your own. I do like that it encourages you to play with breaking the code, which is absolutely necessary for learning how to code, but it's a little hand-holdy. I was expecting the guidance to loosen up as you went on, but as of chapter 6 out of the 11 chapters that introduce the topics, it's still very sheltered. I'd suggest people wanting a little more challenge/for things to stick a little longer read the first "A Simple ___" section whenever a topic is introduced, then jump to the exercises. See what you can accomplish there just from seeing the example code, and if you run into trouble, then go back through all of the "how to do this exact thing" stuff. Using the book this way, it's been a great reference book, and a quick read. I wish more complex ideas were introduced earlier, like conditionals/loops, so that the exercises could introduce more problem-solving than you can get with just print earlier, but I'm looking forward to the projects section. Oh, and yeah the binding did pop off on day 1. But it was super clean, so I just dabbed some rubber cement on the spine. It's not a big deal.

With the lockdown from the global pandemic, I have been forced to work from home like many other people. Since my usual job involved supporting hardware, this meant I was going to be stuck! Fortunately, my boss said that if I could spend my time learning skills useful to the lab, I could count the hours doing that. I asked whether learning Python would count. I told him that I would try to create scripts to monitor my hardware from home. He said that was acceptable. I have some programming experience, but it has been years since I coded, and then it was usually for relatively basic tasks in undergrad. I was looking for something that would not insult my intelligence, but that would still be interesting enough to keep me on task. So, after searching around I found this book. I saw the highly rated reviews. I skimmed the language that the author used in the sample. I read the table of contents and saw that the second part of the book consisted of creating games in order to solidify the skills learned. Yes! This sounded perfect. I have not been disappointed. The book walks the reader through setting up (checking if Python is on the computer already, downloading it if necessary, using an IDE and what that is, etc). And then it moves on to the usual basic programming. The writing is clear. I had no problems with the examples and found the practice problems to be well chosen. I also liked the way that the author encouraged good practices such as documentation and testing. I am currently in Part 2 of the book and have been working on the first project, a game called Alien Invasion which is basically a version of Space Invaders. I am definitely enjoying that. And I can see how some of the skills I learn from this could transfer over into monitoring my equipment. Reading files, taking user input, opening windows, drawing on the screen, making calculations, all of these things are necessary for the game, and for my own goals. I personally never had any problems, but I also noticed that the author's website includes cheat sheets, solutions, and errata, not to mention the files suggested for the projects. I am not sure if this book is for an absolute beginner. My experience is too far from that for me to be a good judge. But I can say that a person with basic programming knowledge and no prior knowledge of Python found it to be a great resource.

In embarking on my journey to learn Python, I initially struggled with various online video courses and even subscribed to the paid version of Codecademy, only to find myself constantly backtracking. It wasn't until recently that I dusted off a book that had been sitting on my shelf for a couple of years. This book turned out to be a hidden gem. The clarity and structure of the content are truly commendable. The author's approach to presenting Python concepts made it easy for me to build upon what I learned, creating a strong foundation that kept me motivated throughout the process. I feel the way the book is organized seemed to unlock a seamless progression in my understanding of Python that once I would get to the exercises in the end I was actually able to work through those myself or at least knew what I needed to google to clarify what I needed further elaboration with. Whether you're delving into Python for professional reasons or simply as a personal endeavor, I wholeheartedly recommend this book. This book has made the learning journey enjoyable. If you're looking for a reliable companion on your Python learning path, this book is an excellent choice to get started.

I've had some programming experience in the past. I've written very basic Perl and Python programs in the past, and have a solid understanding of the basics, such as strings, variables, functions, statements, etc. I got the book "Learning Python" and started going through it and was entirely lost; the book mostly focuses on using Python Interpreter for most of the examples, which made it confusing for me to follow along. This book, Python Crash Course is one of the best books I've ever worked with in learning to program anything. The author explains everything in a very detailed, yet simplistic way, and even puts numbers next to the areas he's explaining, so that the reader can understand what area of the code is being explained. In addition, the book has numerous exercises to do at the end of each chapter that really give the reader a clear grasp of the subject matter that has been presented. Most of the time, I tend to skip over these, because they seem so tedious and boring in other books....not so in this book. The author tells you to go find a famous quote you like, and then use that to create an exercise where you're manipulating strings (as an example). I'd have to say that so far, this is one of the best books I've ever worked with in regards to learning programming. If you're new to programming, and don't know what a variable is verses a string, this is a great book to start with. If you're like myself, and have a basic understanding of programming syntax, but have some places that are still confusing (maybe you know how to get something to work, but not know why it works for example), this is also a great book. Best book I've read in regards to learning Python, by far.

This book is excellent for anyone who wants to learn a computer language from the ground up. It walks you through the free software to install (how to install it and trouble shoot any issues you may have), gives plenty of examples and discusses common errors, and has made learning Python easy and fun. My background is NOT in computer science, but in mathematics. I have very little experience programming. I purchased this book because my 10 year old was interested in learning to program and I wanted to be able to help him get started. I'm not sure if he would have the patience to read the book on his own, but any adult or kid over the age of 13 should be good to go. The quality of construction of the book cover is "meh". It came undone after a few days of use, but the binding is good (nothing a little glue in the spine wont fix). The paper and printing are of good quality. I wouldn't let this minor issue deter me from recommending this book to others. The software for python doesn't need much to run. In fact, there are apps out there for running it on phones or tablets. You don't need a full fledged PC to use this software (and again it is free). Best of luck programming. It is fun!

Here is the book for beginners that'll get you A to Z in Python. Best reference book out there.

Ótima porta de entrada, e referência de consulta permanente às estruturas básicas da linguagem. Não que seja perfeito, mas é no mínimo excelente, e isso não é pouco! Parabéns ao autor, de verdade. Me diverti bastante aprendendo a essência do Python com esse livro, ao longo de alguns meses. Não acredito que alguém se arrependa do investimento. Vá com calma e sem pressa, aprendendo no seu ritmo e voltando sempre que necessário. E mantenha ele por perto sempre! Adoraria encontrar um livro desses pra C++, ou que o autor escrevesse um livro desses pra C++, mas isso é utópico, pois o C++ é o contrasenso do Python, kkkkk...

Totally nice and perfect. I bought this as a gift for my son who’s contemplating if programming could be his liking before venturing university.

El libro está muy bien escrito y no utiliza una terminología demasiado compleja ni un lenguaje muy técnico; todos los conceptos técnicos que se utilizan con frecuencia en el libro son explicados previamente. A pesar de que el libro está escrito en inglés, logré entender perfectamente la información que el autor trataba de transmitir, debido a que el libro tiene una sintaxis muy clara y fácil de seguir. Definitivamente el mejor libro de Python para principiantes que encontrarás. El contenido es excelente, pero creo que podrían mejorar el pegamento que une a las páginas de la carcasa. Recomiendo a este libro a cualquier persona que quiera adentrarse al mundo de la programación en Python, explica una gran cantidad de funciones y métodos útiles, por lo que incluso si este no es tu primer lenguaje, encontrarás información que te será de bastante utilidad.

Brilliant! Here's what I thought: Pros: -Suitable for all ages -Easy tutorial to download software (multiple options available, most are free!) -All code explained clearly -Good consolidation of knowledge by assigning tasks -Good challenging level - pushes you to become a good programmer -Plenty to things to learn as the book is detailed -Quite fun too! Cons: -At times the code can become quite difficult despite the book's explanation - a lot of resilience and problem-solving is required -This book is purely self-learning which brings its own setbacks as there is not many places to look for help. Having said that, self-learning is a great skill to learn and this book develops it greatly. Overall, this was a good buy and I would definitely recommend it for anyone wishing to learn Python from scratch.