Python Crash Course, 2nd Edition: A Hands-On, Project-Based Introduction to Programming
Python Crash Course, 2nd Edition: A Hands-On, Project-Based Introduction to Programming book cover

Python Crash Course, 2nd Edition: A Hands-On, Project-Based Introduction to Programming

Price
$34.00
Format
Paperback
Pages
544
Publisher
No Starch Press
Publication Date
ISBN-13
978-1593279288
Dimensions
7 x 1.2 x 9.25 inches
Weight
2.3 pounds

Description

“It has been interesting to see, over the last few years, No Starch Press, which produces this book, growing and producing future classics that should be alongside the more traditional O’Reilly Press programming books. Python Crash Course is one of those books.”— Greg Laden, ScienceBlogs “All of these projects are well thought out and presented in such a way that learning the subject matter and implementing it is much more an enjoyable pastime rather than an onerous task that must be completed. Eric took the time to deal with some rather complex projects and lay them out in a consistent, logical and pleasant manner that draws the reader into the subject willingly, which unfortunately, many authors fail to do.”— Full Circle Magazine “The book is well presented with good explanations of the code snippets. It works with you, one small step at a time, building more complex code, explaining what's going on all the way.”— FlickThrough Reviews “Learning Python with Python Crash Course was an extremely positive experience! A great choice if you’re new to Python.”— Mikke Goes Coding "While Python Crash Course uses Python to teach you to code, it also teaches clean programming skills that apply to most other languages." —Great Lakes Geek "It does what it says on the tin, and it does it really well. If you want a crash course in Python, fear not!!! The Python Crash Course is an excellent book that provides a thorough introduction to Python that will have you writing programs and solving problems in no time!" —Technical YA, Best Books to Learn Python Language in 2021 "Brilliant." —Anna Yukhtenko, Senior Games Analyst at Hutch "I recommend this book to anyone learning python. It is my best resource so far." —Firdaus H. Salim, @BetaScribbles "The fastest way to learn Python." —Learning Python, Youtuber "Eric Matthes's passion for teaching really shines through . . . Clearly introduces every new concept." —makes sense, YouTuber "[ Python Crash Course ] should be on the every new python coders' wish list or bookshelf!" —Sean Massey, Positive Python Eric Matthes is a high school math and science teacher living in Alaska who teaches an Introduction to Programming class in Python. He has been writing programs since he was five years old.

Features & Highlights

  • The best-selling Python book in the world, with over 1 million copies sold! A fast-paced, no-nonsense, updated guide to programming in Python.
  • If you've been thinking about learning how to code or picking up Python, this internationally bestselling guide to the most popular programming language is your quickest, easiest way to get started and go! Even if you have no experience whatsoever,
  • Python Crash Course, 2nd Edition
  • , will have you writing programs, solving problems, building computer games, and creating data visualizations in no time.You’ll begin with basic concepts like variables, lists, classes, and loops—with the help of fun skill-strengthening exercises for every topic—then move on to making interactive programs and best practices for testing your code. Later chapters put your new knowledge into play with three cool projects: a 2D Space Invaders-style arcade game, a set of responsive data visualizations you’ll build with Python's handy libraries (Pygame, Matplotlib, Plotly, Django), and a customized web app you can deploy online.Why wait any longer? Start your engine and code!

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
60%
(4.9K)
★★★★
25%
(2.1K)
★★★
15%
(1.2K)
★★
7%
(577)
-7%
(-576)

Most Helpful Reviews

✓ Verified Purchase

Great inner content! Not that great outer quality. Still worth it!

Have had this for one day and the cover is already coming off. Nothing a little glue won’t fix, and that’s the downside of paperbacks that you have to put weight on to keep closed, in my opinion.

BUT the inner content is well worth it. I’ve been wanting to learn programming for years but have often gone away discouraged because the tutorials and teachers randomly start throwing complicated problems at you out of nowhere.

Not so with this book. It eases you into each topic, breaks it down very clearly, and has exercises throughout that you can follow along with. Make sure you follow along! There are specific exercises throughout, but I highly recommend typing out the example code and playing around with it/experimenting on your own as well. Then by the time you get to the exercises you’ll have a good idea about how to approach it.

STICK WITH IT! I decided I wanted to learn to program 10 years ago! I would start for a week and then quit when it got too complicated and felt overwhelming. Then I’d come back to it a few years later, and same thing. Then it hit me one day, “If I had pushed through the first time and been patient, I’d have 10 years of experience as a programmer right now. Do I want to look back in another 10 years and feel that way again? Or do I want to push through this time so in 10 years I’ll actually have the experience under my belt!?”

Easy answer!

Stick with it. Be patient with yourself if things get too complicated or you “feel too dumb” to get it. If you hit a block, go back a few pages and go through it again. Everyone is selling “learn ____ quick!” books these days. It’s a good way to get random chunks of knowledge but a terrible way to master it. So be patient!

And get this book. :). It makes things very simple to understand and really holds your hand through everything.
343 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Very enjoyable read

Just finished the book and followed the code all way, even did some of the "Try this yourself" exercises. Very well organized. 6 stars on that. Code in the book was accurate and worked as expected. I didn't just try the code from the resource web site. I actually typed in every line from the book and made it all the way to deployment. (Quite an accomplishment, I say. :-)).

Only one gripe - see pictures attached. After 3 weeks of ownership, the book lost its clothing. :-(

I wonder if Mr Matthes will send me an autographed copy to replace my sad, broken, copy? :-)
182 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

The updated preface

For all who want to compare the 1st to the 2nd edition, here the Preface to the Second Edition.
159 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Worth Every Penny!

Let me preface this review by saying that I have zero programming experience. I'm only four chapters into the book and I gotta say - Python is finally making sense to me! I've tried reading "Automate the Boring Stuff with Python" and I have no doubt that it's a good book. However, for me, it was not a good starting point and I found myself lost trying to read through the first few chapters - maybe I'll re-read "Automate the Boring Stuff with Python" afterwards after I finish "Python Crash Course". I'll do a follow-up review of this book when I'm done, but that won't be for a while; I'm going at my own pace and ensuring that I understand each topic and lesson. This book is worth the money if you want to learn Python!
110 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Good for beginner but does not go too far or deep

What is good about it? It teaches you the basics of Python But it does not have any advanced materials inside. Evey little example is well explained. It has a lot of examples are presented. It also asked readers to do exercises after concept.
However, I wish it comes with an answer for those after chapter exercises. Otherwise, it becomes meaningless because you won't know if you got it or not. Overall, well explained but somewhat too much explanation. Thus, this might be good for people who do not have any programming skill. Also, words are simple and straightforward.

Update: Thanks to the author reply, there are solutions online. But I still think it explained things too much. Thus, costed too much reading for a simple concept.
109 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Great book for python.

I was recommended this book by my computer science professor for a C++ class. I wanted to learn python on my own and I can say, it's a very easy book to follow, especially compared to C++. I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to learn python l.
72 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Easy to understand

I have taken many online course for python, however, as a beginner in the software development, I could not comprehend. This book guided me step by step to understand and apply various python concepts. Additionally, it has some exercises that you have to do in order to solidify you understanding. All answers are available online in case you got stuck.
69 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Truely for the person that doesn't know how to program

I write firmware/software professionally in C/C++/C#. Recently I started learning Python and BASH. Got this book to learn Python, the book was a bit long winded. If I was a newbie I'd want it to be wordy.

If you're a pro trying to pick up Python as new language in your arsenal, you'll have to read through a lot of fluff that you'd learn in your intro the programming classes in college. The information isn't wrong, and the examples work, but....man...it's a long read. I believe the book could probably be cut in half if the author removed the fluff.

Why the 3 stars? Most books about learning have all the basics listed in a single chapter, so people with experience can just read it real quick and move on to the more complex ideas. This book interweaves the basics through out the entire book, which for me was a mind boring read (IMHO).
17 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Show me updated preface

Not a chance I will purchase the book when I can't even read the Preface to the new edition using preview functionality. What is the point of preview if I can't see what differentiates this book from previous edition?
16 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Excellent book! Had been updated and made better!

I like that this book remains the same yet the code had been cleaned up, updating it.
12 people found this helpful