Fluent Python Paperback – 28 Aug. 2015

I've been trying to learn Python for about 2 years in my spare time and over the last year I started to use Django. I decided that I had to take a step back and learn a bit more about Python before continuing with Django as I felt that I was doing a lot of things by memory. I was also uncomfortable with object orientated programming and I needed more understanding using dunder methods and I hoped that this book would be able to help me with this.The first example in the book looks to build a deck of cards using Python. If you've had a lot of experience using Python then it may seem fairly straightforward, or if you're more like me then you'll probably start thinking that this book might be for a more advanced python programmer. The good news is that each aspect of the first example is broken down into it's individual components and discussed in great detail - in fact, most of the early chapters could be used to help build on the first example so everything feels practical.One of the great strengths of this book is how the Author is able to communicate concepts in Python to programmers with little experience (which I consider myself to be). I have seen countless answers on stack overflow with 100's of up votes but I've never been able to understand the answer in any shape or form. I was pleased to find that I never really felt this while learning from this book. Of course, there were lots of times where it took me longer to truly understand a new concept but that's to be expected. Personally, I benefited massively from using this book because there is a lot use of OOP and dunder methods which is what I had really hoped for.I don't think I can be too critical of the book, there were a few chapters which I haven't read but that was my choice, for now at least. It gets a bit heavy in the last 4 or 5 chapters but it's not something I think I need to know right now and I can always come back to these at a later date.If you're starting out with Python then I think this book is a must-have. I was very pleased that I made the decision to buy this book, if you're committed to learning Python then you'll always be thankful to have this book on hand as it may just help clear up something you didn't understand. I would also advise buying the Kindle version of the book as I've had the command prompt open whilst reading the book as I was coding some of the examples myself to see if I got the same outcomes as in the book - I think I'd have been worse off if I bought an actual copy of the book because you can't just learn python, you have to actually do it as well so the kindle version helped me to do this.

An excellent, in-depth tour of the Python programming language. The majority of my career has been dominated by Javascript (Node.js), with some PHP in the early days. This one book was all I needed to not only feel a sense of understanding with Python 3 (having not written a lick of code in Python before reading it), but also be confident enough to write several back-end APIs that are now used in a production setting -- inside of a few weeks.The language itself is deceptively simple, and offers quick wins. This can lead the would-be coder to conclude that they 'know' Python, and then experience some unexpected edge cases later down the road. Fluent Python not only anticipates those scenarios, it takes the reader on a tour behind the scenes on the history/thinking that led to certain design decisions to explain why things work like they do; a task that could really only be accomplished by an author that has spent time deep in the trenches of Python themselves.Luciano is one of the most qualified people in the world to guide you through the glitz and pitfalls of Python, and explain things in a comprehensive enough manner that will lead to its mastery.Truly the de facto guide to learning Python. Highly recommended.

Likes: A useful book on PythonDislikes: Not as readable as I would have liked, but nevertheless a useful reference.

One of the drawbacks of internet based learning is the large amount of beginner and intermediate tutorials that are available but is lacking towards the more complex and nuanced topics, at-least not in a cohesive fashion that builds upon each concept as a whole. This book is perfect for learners looking for a more complete experience and is a perfect reference book for those who prefer having a print copy.

This is well written and easy to follow. It's not a Python from scratch book, but if you already know some Python you will learn a lot from this book.It explains a lot of the rationale underlying many language features and clearly explains a lot of Python idioms. It's based on Python 3, but where Python 2 is different it tells you, so it;s still usable for Python 2 programmers.This is a must have text for the serious Python programmer.

Coming from Java to Python... I found this book covered how to write pythonic code and the concepts behind python (such as generators, coroutines, decorators and functools functions) really well. It is not Python in a nutshell book (i.e. covering all the language and frameworks) if that is what your looking for, but is certainly is a book I strongly recommend to people new to python or those who have used it for some time.

Been writing python for 5 years and decided I needed to become more expert. I read this book from cover to cover and learned a ton. It is pitched at those who want to go deeper, not for beginners, but provides excellent coverage of all areas of the language.

I’m fairly new to Python, but I have to say how well written and enjoyable this book is. It’s a really good insight into how to shift thinking from other languages (in my case, C# and C++) to Python.Certainly not a beginner’s guide, but it’s great for getting into a pythonic way of working.One of the best Python books I’ve come across so far.

I am an engineer who decided to learn how to code on my own. I experimented with a bunch of different languages but fell in love with Python. I now use Python for personal projects. I was watching a YouTube video where Gina Häußge (creator of octoprint) recommended it and attributed her work to things learned in the book. So I bought it hoping to better my skills.I read this book in chapter chunks, as there is a TON of information to gain from this book. I love the structure that Ramalho uses. He provides well written descriptions and explanations for each topic(something I cannot say for most textbooks). On top of that, he provides relevant code examples for almost everything he covers. Even better, he has step-by-step explanations for the code examples that follow the execution flow. This makes it much easier to understand if you have difficulty grasping the concept at first. Aside from coding the examples yourself, this is top notch for learning skills from text.For me, I was reading this book while working on a medium sized Python project. Even though I was not searching for anything specific in this book, the more I read, the more I found ways where I could implement his teachings into my project.Ramalho includes a section at the end of each chapter to offer his opinion on said topic. As a younger programmer, I appreciated the opinion from a professional and clearly well respected member of the Python community.If you write Python and want to gain a better understanding of the language (and perhaps found the Python docs hard to read like me), this book is for you. If you do give it a read, I hope you like it as much as I did.Thanks Luciano, excellent work!

Per ogni linguaggio di sviluppo che si intende utilizzare è necessario effettuare, ad un certo punto, un salto di qualità. Occorre passare dalla semplice padronanza della sintassi ad un uso efficiente e professionale dello strumento. Questo libro serve proprio a questo. Va letto con la dovuta attenzione, senza fretta. Ne vale la pena.

Ótimo livro. Entra no detalhe das estruturas e recursos do Python, sabendo conduzir o leitor progressivamente enquanto desenvolve os conteúdos abordados. É um livro para ser saboreado aos poucos.

A big book (I mean, your nightstand better be solid) with advanced technics in Python. Not recommended for the beginner, it's still focused on the standard library but that's enough. Obviously, I haven't finished reading it yet but from the first chapter alone you learn a lot of stuff.

So you've got the basics down in Python, what do you read now? This book. "Fluent Python" tells you which constructs to use and, almost more importantly, why. The big difference to "Effective Python" by Slatkin is that this book is in-depth and explains what happens behind the code - I have found the insights into how Python works under the hood invaluable. This is a book for people who really want to master the language, not just get somewhat better quickly. It takes quite some time to work through "Fluent Python", but it is time very well spent.If there is anything I didn't really like about "Fluent Python", it is the priority given to object-orientated programming. If you are one of those people who think that OOP has basically failed its promise, there are whole chapters that will make you grit your teeth. There is a discussion of why modern Python has better tools for functional programming than the classic map and reduce, but this is definitely a book from the OOP camp.