There are many books on Python. They usually go into language specifics or into very basic programming from a beginner’s point of view. This book is very computer science (CS) algorithm-specific, describing the algorithms in an awesome way. Depending on how you look at it, the book can be either a Python programming book or an algorithm book.

The algorithm aspects are explained in a very nice way, including how to fine-tune them and design new variants. Some of the topics touching on algorithms covered in the book include induction and recursion, traversal algorithms, divide and conquer, NP and non NP, and graph problems. Lot of diagrams and figures are included, which aid in understanding the problems and thereby solving them.

Learning a language is often easy, but learning to apply it to specific problems is key. This comes with a solid theoretical background and understanding of the fundamentals. This book trumps others in this respect, and the author navigates the solutions very nicely with many excellent descriptions.

The book handles Python 3 and 2 very well. The programs are in Python 3, but wherever backward compatibility is an issue and it will not work in Python 2, examples and differences are outlined. The book outlines algorithms in general and does not cater to specific areas such as bioinformatics. However, domain experts in various areas will be able to use the algorithms that they deem fit. The book does not deal with libraries in general and is an algorithmic text.

If you are a student or professional working on automation/scripting projects, the book will be a big help. The icing on the cake is the exercises. I highly encourage readers to solve all of the exercises, which are key to learning. If you have a computer and have Python installed, try the solutions. Instructors should assign the exercise problems as homework. Hints given at the end will help, but readers should explore multiple solutions and pick the best one. The xkcd cartoons (http://xkcd.com/) in the book add a touch of humor to an otherwise serious study of CS. I highly recommend the book to any reader who wants to graduate into the upper echelons of Python study.