The Open Source Zone

I like this book for two reasons. 1) If I need to get an idea on how to do something that is not necessarily obvious then it is a good place to look 2) If I have done something and want to see how others may have approached something similar then it is a good gauge on my own 'sanity check' - did I convolute some simple (or complex) logic into a working python script that could be handled in half the space and more elegantly (it has been known to happen) or did I come up with a comparable, better, or unique solution than presented (it has also been known to happen - just not as much as the former). In truth, I often find that I view a solution as 'better' because of the particulars of the application I am working on in which case some subjectivity of usefulness and elegance is based on an inherited aspect of my code and not on the abstract usefulness and elegance which much of the code snippets and explanation presents.

Good idea book, keeping in mind that the authors are trying to encapsulate some wisdom to be applied to a very wide set of problems.

This is the only Python book I've seen to date which provides detailed and practical examples of metaprogramming idioms, and it gets five stars for that chapter way in the back alone. The chapter on sockets programming also made me laugh since Guido seems to be incredibly proud of what I personally consider to be one of the worst sockets libraries I've ever used, but the Twisted guys have already sorted all of that nonsense out for us, so what the hey. Lots of cool stuff in here you probably haven't even thought of trying--like accessing the result of a list comprehension from inside the comprehension itself.

This edition (2) is significantly expanded -- and modified where Python advances warrant it -- from the previous version.

If you want a book that shows best Python programming practices and gets you going for virtually any programming task this is the book for you

I purchased this for my son as he requested it. It was an older version so he would not be able to use it. He ordered the newer one out. It not say what the published date was when I order it.

Hi whoever invented the cook book concept should be really brilliant.I have always had a liking for the cookbook series from o'reilly and this one is a clear winner.It really comes in useful as a quick reference for any small piece of code that u are trying to do to fit in to ur application and finding it difficult for and out of box idea in code.My favorites in python cookbook are the sections on Algorithms and Programs about Programs.A must have for anyone who wishes to explore the charm called python.