Barry - Head first Python: [a brain-friendly guide]

Beijing Boston Farnham Sebastopol Tokyo

I continue to dedicate this book to all those generous people in the Python community who continue to help make Python what it is today.

And to all those that made learning Python and its technologies just complex enough that people need a book like this to learn it.

If you purchased this ebook directly from oreilly.com , you have the following benefits:

If you purchased this ebook from another retailer, you can upgrade your ebook to take advantage of all these benefits for just $4.99. to access your ebook upgrade.

Please note that upgrade offers are not available from sample content.

Praise for other Head First books

Kathy and Berts Head First Java transforms the printed page into the closest thing to a GUI youve ever seen. In a wry, hip manner, the authors make learning Java an engaging whatre they gonna do next? experience.

Warren Keuffel,Software Development Magazine

Beyond the engaging style that drags you forward from know-nothing into exalted Java warrior status, Head First Java covers a huge amount of practical matters that other texts leave as the dreaded exercise for the reader.... Its clever, wry, hip and practical there arent a lot of textbooks that can make that claim and live up to it while also teaching you about object serialization and network launch protocols.

Dr. Dan Russell, Director of User Sciences and Experience Research IBM Almaden Research Center (and teaches Artificial Intelligence at Stanford University)

Its fast, irreverent, fun, and engaging. Be careful you might actually learn something!

Ken Arnold, former Senior Engineer at Sun Microsystems Coauthor (with James Gosling, creator of Java),The Java Programming Language

I feel like a thousand pounds of books have just been lifted off of my head.

Ward Cunningham, inventor of the Wiki and founder of the Hillside Group

Just the right tone for the geeked-out, casual-cool guru coder in all of us. The right reference for practical development strategies gets my brain going without having to slog through a bunch of tired, stale professor speak.

Travis Kalanick, founder of Scour and Red Swoosh Member of the MIT TR100

There are books you buy, books you keep, books you keep on your desk, and thanks to OReilly and the Head First crew, there is the penultimate category, Head First books. Theyre the ones that are dog-eared, mangled, and carried everywhere. Head First SQL is at the top of my stack. Heck, even the PDF I have for review is tattered and torn.

Bill Sawyer, ATG Curriculum Manager, Oracle

This books admirable clarity, humor and substantial doses of clever make it the sort of book that helps even non-programmers think well about problem-solving.

Cory Doctorow, co-editor of Boing Boing Author,Down and Out in the Magic KingdomandSomeone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town

I received the book yesterday and started to read it...and I couldnt stop. This is definitely trs cool. It is fun, but they cover a lot of ground and they are right to the point. Im really impressed.

Erich Gamma, IBM Distinguished Engineer, and coauthor ofDesign Patterns

One of the funniest and smartest books on software design Ive ever read.

Aaron LaBerge, VP Technology, ESPN.com

What used to be a long trial and error learning process has now been reduced neatly into an engaging paperback.

Mike Davidson, CEO, Newsvine, Inc.

Elegant design is at the core of every chapter here, each concept conveyed with equal doses of pragmatism and wit.

Ken Goldstein, Executive Vice President, Disney Online

I Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML it teaches you everything you need to learn in a fun-coated format.

Sally Applin, UI Designer and Artist

Usually when reading through a book or article on design patterns, Id have to occasionally stick myself in the eye with something just to make sure I was paying attention. Not with this book. Odd as it may sound, this book makes learning about design patterns fun.

While other books on design patterns are saying Bueller...Bueller...Bueller... this book is on the float belting out Shake it up, baby!

Eric Wuehler

I literally love this book. In fact, I kissed this book in front of my wife.

Satish Kumar

Other related books from OReilly

Learning Python

Programming Python

Python in a Nutshell

Python Cookbook

Python for Unix and Linux System Administration

Other books in OReillys Head First series

Head First Algebra

Head First Ajax

Head First C#, Second Edition

Head First Design Patterns

Head First EJB

Head First Excel

Head First 2D Geometry

Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML

Head First iPhone Development

Head First Java

Head First JavaScript

Head First Object-Oriented Analysis & Design (OOA&D)

Head First PHP & MySQL

Head First Physics