There are many books on Python. This book is not overly long and the material can be covered in a one-semester course. The author has taught with the book, so it has been proven in a classroom environment. It is targeted at college students, though even high school students should be able to use it.

It starts with basic programming concepts, and includes many exercises (and solutions). I really like the exercise-based learning approach. The book goes into programming paradigms like objects, methods, and functions. A lot of emphasis is placed on design as well. Many programming books tend to ignore design elements and spend a lot of time on syntax. While this book does emphasize the syntax and semantics of the Python language, it also covers design mechanics in depth. As an example of the syntax details, the appendix has a list of string and list operations. As an example of the book’s coverage of design, event-driven programming and graphical interface design are detailed in a very thorough way.

The book emphasizes hands-on learning, which makes sense when learning programming. An undergraduate student that has a computer with a Python integrated development environment (IDE) and this book can learn a lot and do some interesting projects. The book is also suitable for high school students interested in programming assignments and projects. A highly readable and compact book, students and beginning programmers will like it.

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