Introducing Python: Modern Computing in Simple Packages

If you are an experienced programmer and want to test your Python skills or want to pick Python up in a weekend, this is the right book for you. Introducing Python is nothing short of amazing. I'm convinced that this book will show you everything needed to master Python. Full Review &gt; <a target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow" href="http://blog.syndbg.com/2014/11/review-introducing-python/">http://blog.syndbg.com/2014/11/review...</a>

This is actually the first book about Python I've read even though I've used it extensively throughout the years.<br /><br />My perception that this book proves is that Pythonistas are usually not programmers by trade, they'd come to programming either due to a lucky coincidence or by taking a wrong turn on the road of career hopping.<br /><br />This book has promised to give a broad look on the Python's ecosystem, it actually delivers on what it promises. But this look is so shallow that I can't recommend this book for those who's willing to get a deep dive into Python on a weekend. The technical details it gives look like author's waving the hands in the air with no actual proof that I'm used to in Scala and Java books.<br /><br />Good book, but I can't recommend it to any professional programmer who's used to technical/programming/mathematical books.<br /><br />Score 3/5

I've never programmed before. I might be interested in pursuing data engineering in the future and want to see if I can "get" it and find it interesting and fulfilling. For that purpose I want (basic) Python and pandas knowledge. What I like about this book is that it seems to be targeting people without programming experience (as well as more experienced programmers). For the most part it worked for me. I understood most of it and found some of it entertaining/funny. But I also got frustrated a bit a few times. I have the luxury of being married to a data scientist who was willing to clarify some things for me (actually loving it ;) ). <br />One thing I would have really liked were more exercises to get more 'experience' and have more time to practice different things a few times.

Probably good as an intro. <br />Many topics are not explained.<br />The second half resembles a long list of package for every business need.<br />

I needed a quick Python refresher as I want to use Python for machine learning projects. I had used Numpy and SciPy in the past, but haven’t used the language actively for a few years. I’ve read the first 7 chapters of the book and did some of the exercises. I might read chapters 8, 10 and 12 at some point.<br /><br />I can say that the book is well written and occasionally very funny. Absolute beginners should probably look elsewhere but if you have some programming experience, you can’t go wrong with this book. I continue now to work through Raschka’s Python Machine Learning book and will also soon take a look at Fluent Python by Ramalho and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Python by Reitz and Schlusser.

Im new to Python and to programming. My interest in Python stems primarily from my goal to work with data in order to engage on challenges, business and social, that are data focused. In setting out on this path I chose to complete a MS in Data Science after my MBA in finance and strategy (some overlapping is occuring). I created a complitation of topics that I felt I needed to address the gap in knowledge, skill set, and work experience; around this I created a syllabus taking in advice from current Data Scientists, professors in the program I am in, and on LinkedIn as well as from reading a lot of blogs and forums.<br /><br />Python was by far the oft repeated language to learn and Lubanovica book a must for self learning. However, I fear that I’m not like other programmers, and my learning style is significantly different. While it helped to do the examples and work on the end of chapter excercises, i found my self constantly writing in the margins ‘why is this important?’<br /><br />Given that this book was written as an introduction my sense of loss is relevant. I came at Python with a singular objective: data science. Lubanovic writes with a clear purpose as well, one that is much broader and wider than my singular focus. To this end this book is amazing. I see myself using it as a reference book to fall back to in order to gain clarity. <br /><br />However, as in introduction its supposing that the one learning it can piece together lessons toward an end deliverable of some sort. Here, i am incredibly lacking in both ingenuity and clarity. Give me a topic an I can research the crap out of it and present to a classroom, speak to policy makers, create a strategy. Tell me to value a company and I can research and put together financial models to tell you whether to buy, sell or hold and then walk you through the logic. But if you ask me to provide a program in python, I wouldnt know where to begin and I wouldnt know what other books to read besides Lubanovics. <br /><br />I would be at a complete loss and thats after working through this book. I feel like I am missing the ‘bigger picture’ to this. I speculate thats its not for a lack of Lubanovics writing or presentation of Python, but rather my own incomplete understanding of what to do with this information. I sense that this is my learning style- i need a project, an application for what this book goes over. Maybe a book thats a larger project broken down into parts that allows me to reference this books materials to come up with my own code then see it against the authors solutions. Maybe thats why students go to get BS Comp Sci degrees? <br /><br />I hope this helps. I plan on hitting up ORiellys ‘Python for Data Science’ next. So maybe my opinion will change and become clearer as i go through that.

One of the best programming books I have ever read. Python is not my first programming language, but the clear and straightforward way this book is structured helped me understand things I knew how to <i>use</i> but not <i>explain</i> in other languages, so it was helpful on multiple axes. The explanations are clear and simple, and the book gives a good overview of adjacent topics beyond "how to write a function," including digging down into what seemed like Just Enough detail on networking protocols, IDEs, resources for learning more, and commonly used packages within Python. I would absolutely recommend this book both to beginning programmers and to people who know some, but would like refreshers on why basics matter.

Introducing Python consists of two parts. The first is a decent enough introduction to Python. It errs on the side of informality and stupid jokes, but does a good job of covering much of the base functionality of the language. The second part dedicates a chapter each to various concrete applications, eg databases, scientific computing, web design. It's hard to see who will benefit from these chapters since to a beginner they contain nowhere near enough information to understand the subject, and to someone who understands said subject and just wants to find the appropriate command in Python, the book offers nothing that a Google query would not.

This being 2020, it is a little out of date with some of its suggestions. For example, it recommends IPython, even though that has turned into Jupyter. Also some of the function calls in the appendices were out-of-date. That said, it is a good introduction to Python, covering all the information a good textbook should. <br /><br />If you need to get up to speed on Python, this is the book for you. However, you will still need to read other books on NumPy, Pandas and other packages to do your data science and machine learning.

There are some concepts more than one that the author literally does not explain at all. He explains simple for loops with 4-5 examples with explanation than show us one nested for loop and goes on without explaining what is happening or how nested for loops are working. I am not exaggerating. He literally just inserts a single nested for loop and says: this is a nested for loop. And proceeds to go on without explaining how it works or what it does. Thank you Mr. Lubanovic....