Treading on Python Volume 2: Intermediate Python

I teach Python, and I program, and I don't do it for free. No man but ablockhead ever wrote but for money, wrote Dr. Johnson, and perhaps heput his point a little strongly. I no longer review books for free. Matt doesgood work, and it's perhaps a shame that he doesn't spend more time onthe development of clever problems: one short problem can be worth achapter of explanation, and twelve assignments with six solutions can easily beworth more than the usual eloquent book, however well-written.Alas.

This is a gem of a book. I have read over a dozen Python books and this remains my favorite. Once you've learned the basics of Python, this book will teach you the more advanced aspects of the language that make it such a great language. The book is written very clearly, with excellent, concise code examples. The sections of decorators is the best I've read, and although only 3 pages long, the section on closures is worth the price of the book alone (when you find a case where you really need a closure you'll understand what I mean!).

Informative.

The book essentially covers three topics: functional programming, iterators and generators, closures and decorators. The choice of topics itself clearly targets a specific audience.This is not for a beginner as the title suggests. Having said that, if you a have some experience with Python, this book hits the sweet spot between being clear and concise.This is one of the rare programming books I have read that does not have a single wasted word. Part of it has to do with its laser focus on three topics.

I find that this book was perfect to teach more advanced constructs clearly. However, it may not be suitable if you have just completed a beginner book. If you are willing to look up some terms not explained, this book will take you far in learning more python!

In the end, I have learned a lot from the Treading series but, it came with much more work and took more time than I expected for a book of this size. As someone new to many of the concepts of Python, the Treading series often left me needing to fill in the gaps from other resources. My guess is that this would be a great series for a programmer fluent in Java or C++ but, if your background is in more basic scripting languages such as JavaScript, you may want a different book. On the positive side, I felt the order of the chapters and the topic choices were great for getting started.Finally, once you do get through some basic Python learning, I would highly recommend Python 3 Object Oriented Programming. It was very clear and a great read. Good luck on your journey!

I very much enjoyed this book. It was well written and clearly explained the subject matter. I have a much better understanding of decorators & generators now and I will be returning to this book for refreshers on these topics in the future. My preference is to have a project of some sort to work on to incorporate the various topics, but the material is well explained in this title.

If you want to gain a deeper understanding of Python and how it relates to basic ideas in computer science, I cannot recommend this book enough. The author has an uncanny ability to provide deep yet simple explanations, and to make them crystal clear with pedagogically brilliant examples. The only exception is the large chapter on "alternative decorators", which needs a lot of work.