Learning Python, 5th Edition

Get a comprehensive, in-depth introduction to the core Python language with this hands-on book. Based on author Mark Lutz’s popular training course, this updated fifth edition will help you quickly write efficient, high-quality code with Python. It’s an ideal way to begin, whether you’re new to programming or a professional developer versed in other languages.

Complete with quizzes, exercises, and helpful illustrations, this easy-to-follow, self-paced tutorial gets you started with both Python 2.7 and 3.3— the latest releases in the 3.X and 2.X lines—plus all other releases in common use today. You’ll also learn some advanced language features that recently have become more common in Python code.

• Explore Python’s major built-in object types such as numbers, lists, and dictionaries
• Create and process objects with Python statements, and learn Python’s general syntax model
• Use functions to avoid code redundancy and package code for reuse
• Organize statements, functions, and other tools into larger components with modules
• Dive into classes: Python’s object-oriented programming tool for structuring code
• Write large programs with Python’s exception-handling model and development tools
• Learn advanced Python tools, including decorators, descriptors, metaclasses, and Unicode processing

• Programming Python: Powerful Object-Oriented Programming
• Python Cookbook, Third edition
• Python for Data Analysis: Data Wrangling with Pandas, NumPy, and IPython
• Python Pocket Reference: Python In Your Pocket (Pocket Reference (O'Reilly))
• Automate the Boring Stuff with Python, 2nd Edition: Practical Programming for Total Beginners
• Introduction to Machine Learning with Python: A Guide for Data Scientists
• Python Crash Course, 2nd Edition: A Hands-On, Project-Based Introduction to Programming
• Fluent Python: Clear, Concise, and Effective Programming
• Python Data Science Handbook: Essential Tools for Working with Data
• Think Python: How to Think Like a Computer Scientist