This article is for people looking for the Best Python Book recommendations out there.
There are all kinds of different ways of learning Python in today’s era. With the rise of the internet, Web Tutorials, Coding sites and Online Video Courses have attracted alot of people. None of these however can compete with a well written and comprehensive book.
The advantage that books have is the amount of content that they can deliver. It’s very common for programming books to have over 500+ pages worth of explanations, examples and sample projects. Web Tutorials and Videos cannot possibly encompass all the information without leaving out some details and summarizing the information.
Books on the other hand can go into lengthy detail, explaining this from the ground up. You many think it’s just extra knowledge that’s not important, but remember, in programming there is no such thing as “useless” knowledge. Another obvious benefit is that (assuming you have a physical copy) you don’t have to be sitting behind a screen all day.
Python Crash Course
- Author: Eric Matthes
- Published Date: May, 2019
- Level: No prior knowledge required
- Category: General Python
‘Python Crash Course’ is a fast-paced and comprehensive book that aims to have you creating your own Python programs as fast as possible. You do not need to have any prior knowledge of Python while starting this book, although I would recommend this even Python beginners so that they can strengthen their concepts and learn how to practically use Python.
Divided into roughly two parts, the first part focuses on the core Python logic and concepts such as loops, functions, data collections and Object oriented programming (classes). All in all, everything you will need to begin creating basic programs and writing clean, readable code.
The second part is focused on a more practical approach towards Python, covering three major aspects of programming, ‘game development’, ‘data visualization’ and ‘web applications’. These three aspects are explained alongside the respective Python libraries required, in the form of projects.
It’s also a Best Seller on Amazon, so you know that people are interested in this book and are satisfied with it. This book is found on almost all of the Best Python Book recommendations list due to it’s popularity.
Automate the Boring Stuff with Python (2nd)
- Author: Al Sweigart
- Published Date: November, 2019
- Level: No prior knowledge required
- Category: General Python + Libraries
‘Automate the Boring Stuff with Python’ is a rather unique entry in the category of “General Python”. This book was created with the intention of actually teaching people how to begin using python practically (in real life scenarios). Too many Python users only “know” python rather than actually use python outside of practice projects and examples.
Like the previous book, this is also divided into two parts. The first section covers all the basic python concepts such as loops, functions, lists etc. This makes the book accessible to people who don’t know anything about Python at all. However, one thing to note is that this book does not cover Classes in order to focus more on the core python concepts and libraries.
The second part of this book is it’s main focus and selling point. Though the book is divided in two, the second part is actually several times larger than the first due to how much content it covers.
The second part covers over a dozen major libraries in Python. It doesn’t just teach you how to use them, it actually builds up a full working example in front of you. Each chapter has “end-of-chapter” project for you to practice and work through to hone your skills. Some of the topics and libraries covered in this Book.
- Web Scraping – (BeautifulSoup)
- Regular Expressions – (re)
- Excel spreadsheets – (openpyxl)
- Keyboard and mouse automation – (pyautogui)
- Receiving and sending emails – (SMTP and IMAP)
And these are less than half of the total libraries covered in the book.
Learn Python3 the Hard Way
- Author: Zed Shaw
- Published Date: Jun , 2017
- Level: No prior knowledge required
- Category: General Python + Exercises
This is our third entry in the “General Python” Category. Once again, it defers from the above two in how it teaches Python. This book is structured as a collection of 52 examples through which it teaches you the art of coding in Python.
As the name implies it teaches Python the “hard way” quite literally. It forces you to evaluate your code and correct your mistakes. It presents you with problems and makes you figure out the answer. It’s not a book to “read through” rather, it’s a book for you to “work through”. If this approach appeals to you, you should definitely give it a shot.
Programming is a skill gained only through practice and experience. This is why this book is well reputed, because the people who survive the challenges of this book emerge as actual coders. You may thing of this book as teaching Python “the right way”.
Invent Your Own Computer Games with Python
- Author: Al Sweigart
- Published Date: August, 2015
- Level: Beginner
- Category: Game Development
‘Invent your own Computer Games with Python’ is a book designed for beginners to enter the world of game development. Designing a game is hard work and can often involve advanced concepts such as Gravity, Infinite backgrounds, Player movement, level generation etc. It’s best to learn such concepts from a proper book from start to finish.
Each chapter in the book gives you the complete source code for a new game, and then teaches the programming concepts from the examples. Some of the many games are ‘Guess the Number’, ‘Hangman’, ‘Tic Tac Toe’, and ‘Reversi’. The use of the game development library Pygame is also covered in this book.
Alternatively, you can check out a slightly more advanced version of this book by the same author It’s the same theme (game development) and the same library (pygame), but significantly more detailed in regards to Pygame and covers some additional advanced topics.
Mastering GUI Programming with Python
- Author: Alan D. Moore
- Published Date: May – 2019
- Level: Intermediate
- Category: GUI Programming (PyQt)
‘Mastering GUI Programming with Python’ is a book that fully covers the powerful GUI framework PyQt5. PyQt5 is a python binding of the famous Qt GUI development toolkit, used a wide variety of different applications and platforms. Using this library you can create all kinds of GUI’s with powerful and flexible features.
Another thing to note, is that despite it’s power and usefulness, there is still a lack of proper learning resources for PyQt5. This book by Alan Moore is one of the best python resources you’ll ever find. It’s very easy to build a simple GUI, but if you’re really serious about GUI programming, some random tutorials you found off the internet won’t help you.
I’ve been through numerous full length reviews of this book, and they all say the same thing in one way or the other which is “Blows everything else out of the water” or “No other resource even comes close”.
This marks the end of the Best Python Book Recommendations article. Any suggestions or contributions for CodersLegacy are more than welcome. Questions regarding the article content can be asked in the comments section below.
Check out a similar article, about Python Books written by Al Sweigart!
