Beginning phython : from novice to professional ; [master Python's key features with this comprehensive guide to one of the world's most popular open source programming languages

(This) new edition definitely gets a 10/10. It has everything you need to get a great start with Python. — Joe Topjian, Adminspotting Beginning Python: From Novice to Professional is the most comprehensive book on the Python ever written. Based on Practical Python , this newly revised book is both an introduction and practical reference for a swath of Python-related programming topics, including addressing language internals, database integration, network programming, and web services. Advanced topics, such as extending Python and packaging/distributing Python applications, are also covered. Ten different projects illustrate the concepts introduced in the book. You will learn how to create a P2P file-sharing application and a web-based bulletin board, and how to remotely edit web-based documents and create games. Author Magnus Lie Hetland is an authority on Python and previously authored Practical Python . He also authored the popular online guide, Instant Python Hacking, on which both books are based. Beginning Python: From Novice to Professional 1 Chapter 1 Instant Hacking: The Basics 32 Chapter 2 Lists and Tuples 62 Chapter 3 Working with Strings 84 Chapter 4 Dictionaries: When Indices Won’t Do 98 Chapter 5 Conditionals, Loops, and Some Other Statements 112 Chapter 6 Abstraction 140 Chapter 7 More Abstraction 170 Chapter 10 Batteries Included 234 Chapter 11 Files and Stuff 286 Chapter 12 Graphical User Interfaces 300 Chapter 14 Network Programming 328 Chapter 17 Extending Python 388 Chapter 18 Packaging Your Programs 404 Chapter 19 Playful Programming 412 Chapter 20 Project 1: Instant Markup 422 Chapter 22 Project 3: XML for All Occasions 452 Chapter 24 Project 5: A Virtual Tea Party 486 Chapter 25 Project 6: Remote Editing with CGI 504 Chapter 26 Project 7: Your Own Bulletin Board 514 Chapter 27 Project 8: File Sharing with XML-RPC 530 Chapter 28 Project 9: File Sharing II—Now with GUI! 548 Chapter 29 Project 10: Do-It-Yourself Arcade Game 558 Appendix A The Short Version 578 Appendix B Python Reference 588 Appendix C Online Resources 602 Index 606 Beginning Python: From Novice to Professional is the most comprehensive book on the Python ever written. Based on Practical Python, this newly-revised book is both an introduction and practical reference for a swath of Python-related programming topics, including addressing language internals, database integration, network programming, and web services. Advanced topics, such as extending Python and packaging/distributing Python applications, are also covered. Ten different projects illustrate the concepts introduced in the book. You will learn how to create a P2P file-sharing application and a web-based bulletin board, and how to remotely edit web-based documents and create games. Author Magnus Lie Hetland is an authority on Python and previously authored Practical Python. He also authored the popular online guide, Instant Python Hacking, on which both books are based. Beginning Python: From Novice to Professional introduces readers to a wide swath of Python-related programming topics. Intended as both thorough introduction and practical reference, Hetland touches upon topics including language internals, database integration, network programming, Web services, and more. Advanced topics such as extending Python and packaging/distributing Python applications are also covered. The book concludes with 15 practical projects which serve to formalize concepts introduced throughout the book. Readers will learn how to create a simple P2P file-sharing application, a Web-based bulletin board, remotely edit Web-based documents, and create games as they work through the details of this fascinating set of real-world sample applications * Totaling 900 pages and covering all of the topics important to new and intermediate users, Beginning Python is intended to be the most comprehensive book on the Python ever written. * The 15 sample projects in Beginning Python are attractive to novice programmers interested in learning by creating applications of timely interest, such as a P2P file-sharing application, Web-based bulletin-board, and an arcade game similar to the classic Space Invaders. * The author Magnus Lie Hetland, PhD, is author of Apress’ well-received 2002 title, Practical Python, ISBN: 1-59059-006-6. He’s also author of the popular online guide, Instant Python Hacking (http://www.hetland.org), from which both Practical Python and Beginning Python are based. "Beginning Python: From Novice to Professional" is the most comprehensive book on the Python ever written. Based on "Practical Python," this newly revised book is both an introduction and practical reference for a swath of Python-related programming topics, including addressing language internals, database integration, network programming, and web services. Advanced topics, such as extending Python and packaging/distributing Python applications, are also covered. Ten different projects illustrate the concepts introduced in the book. You will learn how to create a P2P file-s I've started this introduction with a few quotes to set the tone for the book - which is rather informal.