I'm looking for a book that would teach me the lastest and greatest parts=
of Python, does anyone have any recommendations?

I've looked at python.org and pythonbooks.org but I couldn't decide which=
one to get.

I used to be fairly good at Python, but I haven't done any serious progra= mming in the last 10 years or so. So I would like something that got me u= p-to-date with the latest features.

I don't need anything that would teach me OOP, functional programming, et=
c (unless there is a new feature). In other words I'm looking for somethi=
ng that concentrates language specific changes that has happened the last=
10 years or so.

=3D jem

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=?utf-8?q?Jan_Erik_Mostr=C3=B6m?= <lists@mostrom.pp.se> wrote or quoted:

book that would teach me the lastest and greatest parts of Python

Maybe,

The Quick Python Book, Fourth Edition. by Naomi Ceder

(I haven't seen this myself, it's an "indirect" recommendation) or

Effective Python by Brett Slatkin

(indirect, too). BTW: Some of the news are:

async, await, f-strings, data classes, walrus operator,
match statement (structural pattern matching), pathlib,
type annotations, and pyproject.toml for distribution.



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On 2/16/25 05:50, Jan Erik Mostr�m via Python-list wrote:

I'm looking for a book that would teach me the lastest and greatest parts of Python, does anyone have any recommendations?

I've looked at python.org and pythonbooks.org but I couldn't decide which one to get.

I used to be fairly good at Python, but I haven't done any serious programming in the last 10 years or so. So I would like something that got me up-to-date with the latest features.

I don't need anything that would teach me OOP, functional programming, etc (unless there is a new feature). In other words I'm looking for something that concentrates language specific changes that has happened the last 10 years or so.

= jem

Possibly scan through the "What's New in ..." pages for Python 3, to
give you descriptions of new stuff that you can then use as search terms
for further research.

https://docs.python.org/3/whatsnew/index.html



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On 17/02/25 01:50, Jan Erik Mostr�m via Python-list wrote:

I'm looking for a book that would teach me the lastest and greatest parts of Python, does anyone have any recommendations?

I've looked at python.org and pythonbooks.org but I couldn't decide which one to get.

I used to be fairly good at Python, but I haven't done any serious programming in the last 10 years or so. So I would like something that got me up-to-date with the latest features.

I don't need anything that would teach me OOP, functional programming, etc (unless there is a new feature). In other words I'm looking for something that concentrates language specific changes that has happened the last 10 years or so.

When stop to think about it, this is quite a request:
don't give me what I do know,
do give me what I don't know!

That said, you are correct: the bulk of new publications seem to (still)
aim at the Beginner end of the continuum (see later comments).


Over the period mentioned, Python has changed a great deal - Python 3 (largely) replacing Python 2 was only the most-notable! Another
explosion has been the sheer variety of application-domains where Python
is happily applied: web, data science, machine learning, geo-spatial,
natural language - and good, old, math/stats (and more...)

Accordingly, most books aim at 'getting started' (Learn?Master Python in
the time it takes to eat an apple - hint: the apple is probably better
value), or one specific domain, eg Python for Econometrics.


Books published in 2024 (which I may not have read from cover to cover -
yet):

Effective Python: 125 Specific Ways to
Write Better Python, 3rd Edition
Brett Slatkin
Addison Wesley
- probably some good 'reminders' for you, to bring Python back-to-life
in your mind, plus (some of) the updated information and more-advanced considerations requested


Hypermodern Python Tooling
Building Reliable Workflows for an Evolving Python Ecosystem
Claudio Jolowicz
O'Reilly
- per the title, majors on testing and projects rather than the language per-se (still haven't found git in-detail though - YMMV)


Powerful Python
Aaron Maxwell
O'Reilly
- starts with generators (which you likely haven't met before) and goes
'up' from there (am still biting-off chunks of this one, rather than
reading serially)


Given Python's rapid development (a new point-upgrade version released
in October every year - many thanks to the 'Python Gods' who invest
hard-work in such!), it's a tremendous challenge to write a book (also involving considerable time and effort) which will return value for more
than a few years - particularly at the advanced levels!

An alternative-approach which may take your fancy, is online courses
(many of which can be taken for $free). Their self-paced nature has the advantage of enabling the skipping-over of repetitive content (and the repeating of points which don't immediately 'sink in'). You will find
many examples on Coursera* and edX*.

- on Coursera am sad to advise avoiding U.Mich courses - they tend to be re-worded Java (I think) content, don't follow PEP-008 and 'miss' Python idioms
- disclaimer: my work uses the edX platform (not Python)

--
Regards,
=dn


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On 16 Feb 2025, at 20:47, rbowman via Python-list wrote:

David Beasley's 'Python Distilled'. The author doesn't enumerate Python 3 features specifically but as the title suggests hits the important
concepts.

Thanks, I'll take a look

= jem

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On 16 Feb 2025, at 20:59, dn via Python-list wrote:

When stop to think about it, this is quite a request:
don't give me what I do know,
do give me what I don't know!

=F0=9F=98=9C

That said, you are correct: the bulk of new publications seem to (still=

) aim at the Beginner end of the continuum (see later comments).

Yep, I threw away several beginners books in Python last week (they were =
a bit dated).

My work used to be (and still is, to a small degree) to teach programming=
to novice students. So, I feel I can skip the basics and go on to the in= termediate/advanced stuff.

Over the period mentioned, Python has changed a great deal - Python 3 (=

largely) replacing Python 2 was only the most-notable!

Yep, that shift was interesting when teaching novices Python!!

Books published in 2024 (which I may not have read from cover to cover =

- yet):

Effective Python: 125 Specific Ways to
Write Better Python, 3rd Edition
Brett Slatkin
Addison Wesley

Hypermodern Python Tooling
Building Reliable Workflows for an Evolving Python Ecosystem
Claudio Jolowicz
O'Reilly

Powerful Python
Aaron Maxwell
O'Reilly
- starts with generators (which you likely haven't met before)

I have done so ... to be really honest, it was when I couldn't remember h=
ow to create an iterator for a class I was writing, that I realized that =
I needed a refresher.

it's a tremendous challenge to write a book (also involving considerabl=

e time and effort) which will return value for more than a few years - pa= rticularly at the advanced levels!

True, I'm quite amazed that people write books since it takes such an eff=
ort with little, my guess, reward for doing it

An alternative-approach which may take your fancy, is online courses (m=

any of which can be taken for $free). Their self-paced nature has the adv= antage of enabling the skipping-over of repetitive content (and the repea=
ting of points which don't immediately 'sink in'). You will find many exa= mples on Coursera* and edX*.

My plan is to find one or two books that seem suitable, when I've looked =
at those then I'm going online for the rest.

Thanks for the suggestions: I think I now have 2-3 books that I should lo=
ok into in more detail.

=3D jem

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On 2/16/2025 4:00 PM, Jan Erik Mostr�m via Python-list wrote:

On 16 Feb 2025, at 20:59, dn via Python-list wrote:

When stop to think about it, this is quite a request:
don't give me what I do know,
do give me what I don't know!

😜

That said, you are correct: the bulk of new publications seem to (still) aim at the Beginner end of the continuum (see later comments).

Yep, I threw away several beginners books in Python last week (they were a bit dated).

My work used to be (and still is, to a small degree) to teach programming to novice students. So, I feel I can skip the basics and go on to the intermediate/advanced stuff.

Over the period mentioned, Python has changed a great deal - Python 3 (largely) replacing Python 2 was only the most-notable!

Yep, that shift was interesting when teaching novices Python!!

Books published in 2024 (which I may not have read from cover to cover - yet):

Effective Python: 125 Specific Ways to
Write Better Python, 3rd Edition
Brett Slatkin
Addison Wesley

Hypermodern Python Tooling
Building Reliable Workflows for an Evolving Python Ecosystem
Claudio Jolowicz
O'Reilly

Powerful Python
Aaron Maxwell
O'Reilly
- starts with generators (which you likely haven't met before)

I have done so ... to be really honest, it was when I couldn't remember how to create an iterator for a class I was writing, that I realized that I needed a refresher.

it's a tremendous challenge to write a book (also involving considerable time and effort) which will return value for more than a few years - particularly at the advanced levels!

True, I'm quite amazed that people write books since it takes such an effort with little, my guess, reward for doing it

An alternative-approach which may take your fancy, is online courses (many of which can be taken for $free). Their self-paced nature has the advantage of enabling the skipping-over of repetitive content (and the repeating of points which don't immediately 'sink in'). You will find many examples on Coursera* and edX*.

My plan is to find one or two books that seem suitable, when I've looked at those then I'm going online for the rest.

Thanks for the suggestions: I think I now have 2-3 books that I should look into in more detail.

I don't have a book for them but I think you should look into the
(relatively new) type annotation system, as well as asynchronized
programming. The latter is especially of interest because the older
techniques have been removed and replaced with a different approach
(asyncio having replaced asyncore). Both of these will probably be new
to you, and both are important to know about.

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Jan Erik Mostr�m <lists@mostrom.pp.se> writes:

On 16 Feb 2025, at 20:47, rbowman via Python-list wrote:

David Beasley's 'Python Distilled'. The author doesn't enumerate Python 3
features specifically but as the title suggests hits the important
concepts.

Thanks, I'll take a look

I can reinforce this recommendation. I haven't read the entire book,
but I'm reading it slowly. The beauty of this book is that it's very
concise without being just a reference. Since you're familiar with
Python already, this is likely a good match to you.

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On 16 Feb 2025, at 23:06, Thomas Passin via Python-list wrote:

I don't have a book for them but I think you should look into the (rela=

tively new) type annotation system, as well as asynchronized programming.=
The latter is especially of interest because the older techniques have b=
een removed and replaced with a different approach (asyncio having replac=
ed asyncore). Both of these will probably be new to you, and both are imp= ortant to know about.

Thanks, I will.

=3D jem

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On 2/16/25 18:40, Salvador Mirzo via Python-list wrote:

Jan Erik Mostr�m <lists@mostrom.pp.se> writes:

On 16 Feb 2025, at 20:47, rbowman via Python-list wrote:

David Beasley's 'Python Distilled'. The author doesn't enumerate Python 3 >>> features specifically but as the title suggests hits the important
concepts.

Thanks, I'll take a look

I can reinforce this recommendation. I haven't read the entire book,
but I'm reading it slowly. The beauty of this book is that it's very
concise without being just a reference. Since you're familiar with
Python already, this is likely a good match to you.

It's what one might call the "spiritual successor" to Dabeaz's earlier
Python Essential Reference, which for years (early 2000's) was the one
book I referred to frequently.

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* Jan Erik Mostr�m <lists@mostrom.pp.se> in comp.lang.python:

I'm looking for a book that would teach me the lastest and greatest
parts of Python, does anyone have any recommendations?

Wider than that, but could still fit the bill: Fluent Python https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/fluent-python-2nd/9781492056348/

--
DW

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On 16-02-2025 13:50, Jan Erik Mostr�m via Python-list wrote:

I'm looking for a book that would teach me the lastest and greatest parts of Python, does anyone have any recommendations?

I've looked at python.org and pythonbooks.org but I couldn't decide which one to get.

I used to be fairly good at Python, but I haven't done any serious programming in the last 10 years or so. So I would like something that got me up-to-date with the latest features.

Great question.� But also not a simple question.

Great new promising developments are not only happening in core Python libraries, but also in some great external libraries, most targeted for ML/data science things.

Recently I re-ordered my collection on open access Python Book. I also
was, and still am, searching for good quality books for 'professionals'
that cover the latest developments good.

I tried to create an hard copy of parts of the Python documentation.
E.g. to study on paper some exiting new things that are created in
Python 3.13 like CPython’s global interpreter lock (“GIL”) changes. But the PDF was over 3000 pages, so not practical for creating a hard copy version.

Modern Python parts should imho cover changes� to libraries and give
good guidance on how to really use the latest PEPs. Things like handling
Hatch (the new tool for packaging), when to use latest options in the
Pandas library (and NOT)� should minimal be covered if you want to do
Python today.

My current best collection for online quality open access Python Books
is on: https://nocomplexity.com/documents/pythonbook/generatedfiles/overview.html#books


Some of these books can be ordered as hard copy.

Regards

�- Mike

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Mike wrote:
....

My current best collection for online quality open access Python Books
is on: https://nocomplexity.com/documents/pythonbook/generatedfiles/overview.html#books

thanks!

no need for me to print any programming books.

some old textbooks are still useful, but many programming books
are outdated and are more historical artifacts at this point.


songbird

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ram@zedat.fu-berlin.de (Stefan Ram) wrote or quoted:

Effective Python by Brett Slatkin

Well, I've taken a gander at this book, and it's more like
a compilation of articles on various (more advanced) topics
that could be of wildly different relevance to any given reader,
rather than a coherent textbook. It might make sense to peruse
one of these articles as needed when you're looking to bone
up on its specific subject, but I don't see the point
in plowing through all these articles in advance just because
you might need the stuff in them someday.



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