Gunnar Wolf: Python Workout 2nd edition

This post is an unpublished review

for Python Workout 2nd edition

Note: While I often post the reviews I write for Computing Reviews,
this is a shorter review requested to me by Manning. They kindly invited me
several months ago to be a reviewer for Python Workout, 2nd
edition;
after giving them my opinions, I am happy to widely recommend this book to
interested readers.

Python is relatively an easy programming language to learn, allowing you to
start coding pretty quickly. However, there’s a significant gap between
being able to “throw code” in Python and truly mastering the language. To
write efficient, maintainable code that’s easy for others to understand,
practice is essential. And that’s often where many of us get stuck. This
book begins by stating that it “is not designed to teach you Python (…)
but rather to improve your understanding of Python and how to use it to
solve problems.”

The author’s structure and writing style are very didactic. Each chapter
addresses a different aspect of the language: from the simplest (numbers,
strings, lists) to the most challenging for beginners (iterators and
generators), Lerner presents several problems for us to solve as examples,
emphasizing the less obvious details of each aspect.

I was invited as a reviewer in the preprint version of the book. I am now
very pleased to recommend it to all interested readers. The author presents
a pleasant and easy-to-read text, with a wealth of content that I am sure
will improve the Python skills of all its readers.