• Author: Toby Donaldson
• Publisher: Peachpit Press
• Pages: 224
• ISBN: 978-0321929556
• Audience: Beginners to programming who wantto learn Python
  

Editorial Reviews

The new edition of this beginner'sintroduction to Python comes with eBook access - which seems a worthwhileadvantage.

Toby Donaldson's Visual Quickstart Guide toPython sports a new but slightly cryptic cover but once you look inside there'sisn't much change - until you hit the new final chapter more of which later.Although it has been updated where necessary and the version covered is nowPython 3.3.

In the real world you'll still findversions of Python 2 in use and if you need to learn about it this isn't thebook you need as the differences between the two versions are subtle andconfusing. However, if you have a free choice in the matter Python 3 is now thebetter choice.

As a Visual Quickstart Guide this book hasto follow a set format - one that is characterized by a lot of white space. Thelayout style calls for the main text to be in the columns at the outer edge of the page with the inner two columns being reserved for illustrationsa boxout with notes and asides. This results in many pages being half empty.

As pointed out in at the very start,Python's creator, Guido Van Rossum named his language after the Monty Pythoncomedy team and there is a longstanding tradition of making jokey references tothis classic of the 1980's - for example the IDE being called IDLE after EricIdle. You won't find any such humor in this book which takes a no-nonsenseapproach and does a workmanlike job of teaching you to progam, and to programPython in particular.

It introduces the IDLE editor early in thebook. This is no longer the only Python IDE but you should find it easy enoughto use the book in conjunction with one of the alternatives. On the other hand,note that Python is treated as if it was a standalone language and if you planis to use it for web development or for any specific purpose you will needanother book.

On the whole the book takes a logicalapproach and starting from how to install Python works its way through simplearithmetic, variables, flow of control, functions, and strings.However,probably in an attempt to be comprehensive, it does sometimes introduce topicsunnecessarily or in a suboptimal order. For example in Chapter 2 it states thatPython supports complex numbers only to say they won't be covered and we are introducedto  Booleans and conditionals before theIF statement.

Advanced data structures and exceptionhandling are both covered before introducing objects in what used to be thefinal chapter on Object Oriented programming. I think that this topic should havebeen introduced earlier in the book and that it isn't enough if you want tolearn good object-oriented Python, I do welcome its inclusion as "betterlate than never".

I also welcome the new final chapter whichwalks through the development of a larger Python program. Working through this- from problem description, via tackling the its separate components, to thefinal listing - should give Python novice's confidence to write useful programsof their own.

If you are looking for a standard accountof Python 3 suitable for the complete beginner this one is worth consideration.

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