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Dive Into Python ∞

Dive Into Python is a Python book for experienced programmers.

And a very good one too. I especially liked the ‘diving in’ philosophy throughout the book, like in chapter 2:

You know how other books go on and on about programming fundamentals and finally work up to building a complete, working program? Let’s skip all that.

You’ll also find plenty of bits like this one from chapter 5:

Java programmers who have been taught to believe that the world is a better place because == in Java compares by identity instead of by value may have a difficult time adjusting to Python’s lack of such “gotchas”.

Another one from the same chapter:

As a former philosophy major, it disturbs me to think that things disappear when no one is looking at them, but that’s exactly what happens in Python.

Some nice humour goes a long way in making the mundane task of learning yet another programming language a fun task.

If ever you plan on learning Python, make this your first read. Oh, and it’s written by Mark Pilgrim.