This is the Safari online edition of the printed book.

Python 3 is the best version of the language yet: It is more powerful, convenient, consistent, and expressive than ever before. Now, leading Python programmer Mark Summerfield demonstrates how to write code that takes full advantage of Python 3’s features and idioms. The first book written from a completely “Python 3” viewpoint, Programming in Python 3 brings together all the knowledge you need to write any program, use any standard or third-party Python 3 library, and create new library modules of your own.

Summerfield draws on his many years of Python experience to share deep insights into Python 3 development you won’t find anywhere else. He begins by illuminating Python’s “beautiful heart”: the eight key elements of Python you need to write robust, high-performance programs. Building on these core elements, he introduces new topics designed to strengthen your practical expertise–one concept and hands-on example at a time. This book’s coverage includes

• Developing in Python using procedural, object-oriented, and functional programming paradigms

• Creating custom packages and modules

• Writing and reading binary, text, and XML files, including optional compression, random access, and text and XML parsing

• Leveraging advanced data types, collections, control structures, and functions

• Spreading program workloads across multiple processes and threads

• Programming SQL databases and key-value DBM files

• Utilizing Python’s regular expression mini-language and module

• Building usable, efficient, GUI-based applications

• Advanced programming techniques, including generators, function and class decorators, context managers, descriptors, abstract base classes, metaclasses, and more

Programming in Python 3serves as both tutorial and language reference, and it is accompanied by extensive downloadable example code–all of it tested with the final version of Python 3 on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 16 Ratings

Fantastic Introduction for Experienced Programmers - 2009-05-30
Reviewer Rating:
This book is clearly targeted at developers who are already experienced programmers in some other language, who wish to migrate their skills over to Python. The book goes through each of Python's language features piece by piece, in a no-nonsense, concise manner. The book is excellent at explaining how Python implements various programming paradigms and different approaches to the "Python way" of doing things. It doesn't "talk down" to you, or spend chapters and chapters going over basic demo programs. This allows the book to cover a lot of topics very thoroughly.

For me, the book was an excellent read and a great way to dive in to Python, and I expect other programmers would have the same experience. However, the pace is probably a bit too brisk for people who are programming for the very first time.

Good intro to Python for those starting with version 3 - 2009-09-11
Reviewer Rating:
This book is not a basic book for people with no background at all in programming. But if you already have some experience with other languages, it is a fast, concise, and well-written introduction to Python. Please note that it is an introduction to Python 3, not 2.6 or earlier. Python 3 is the new, non-backwards-compatible version of the language. It is also arguably not what you should be using just now. So if you want to work in an earlier version of the language, don't get this book. It does not deal at all with earlier versions or differences between the versions.

If you're digging into the future of Python, version 3, then this is a great introduction!

Learning should always be this easy - 2009-08-29
Reviewer Rating:
Having learned several programming languages, I am well aware of the pains of a poorly written book, and the joys of a well written one. This book stands out from the crowd as a well written and logically ordered introduction to the language.

If you have never programed before, this may not be the best book. It talks about many programming topics with the expectation that you already know what they are. That said, even if you have a weak programming background, (one semester of BASIC?) you will have all the necessary vocab to understand this book. Summerfield still does explain quite a lot.

As other reviewers said, the first 40 pages of this book are dense with information, but once you finish, you will have all the knowledge to write simple but complete programs. This book is worth every penny of its very reasonable pricetag.

Chapters:
1) Rapid Introduction
2) Data Types
3) Collection Data Types
4) Control Structures and Functions
5) Modules
6) Object-oriented Programming
7) File Handling
8) Advanced Programming Techniques
9) Processes and Threading
10) Networking
11) Database Programming
12) Regular Expressions
13) Introduction to GUI Programming

Just what I was looking for. - 2009-06-25
Reviewer Rating:
I took the recent launch of Python 3 as a chance to finally learn the language everybody seems to be talking about. I was reluctant to order this book at first as it was the first Python 3 specific book launched, but after seeing great feedback for the author's other books I took the chance and ordered it.

I've been extremely pleased with my purchase. It's been a pleasure to work through the book, including the examples, and I feel like I now have a good understanding of the language -- which I think is more important in the long run than just being able to use it.

Highly recommended to any programmer thinking about trying Python.

Great book! - 2009-06-11
Reviewer Rating:
This book is exactly what I needed. It's great for people with some (not much) coding experience looking to get into programming on a more serious level.

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