Best reads: Python programming
By Russell Barnes. Posted
Python is a great first programming language, but you need to choose a book that matches your learning style. Find out which of our five essential Python programming books suits you…
Advertisement
Starter electronics: how to build and program circuits with a Raspberry Pi or Raspberry Pi Pico.
Learn Python the Hard Way (Third Edition)
Author: Zed Shaw
Publisher: Addison Wesley
Price: £24.99 (free online)
ISBN: 978-0321884916
The “hard way” is typing it all in until you absorb the syntax and spot mistakes. Works well, but Shaw doesn’t cover Python 3.
Program Arcade Games: With Python and Pygame
Author: Dr. Paul Vincent Craven
Publisher: CreateSpace
Price: £21.99 (free online)
ISBN: 978-1500825966
Balances games and programming exercises to keep the learner going. Very popular: available in several languages on the website.
Writing Idiomatic Python 3.3
Author: Jeff Knupp
Publisher: CreateSpace
Price: £13.97
ISBN: 978-1482374810
Get pythonic from the start: concise guide to idiomatic code; best after another text, but suits some brave learners.
Dive Into Python 3
Author: Mark Pilgrim
Publisher: APress
Price: £35.49 (free online)
ISBN: 978-1430224150
Dives straight into code then the explanations follow. A concise but comprehensive start that will appeal to independent study types.
Learning Python – 5th Edition
Author: Mark Lutz
Publisher: O’Reilly
Price: £43.50
ISBN: 978-1449355739
Comprehensive doorstop (1600 pages); great for programmers new to Python and (Object Orientation). Covers Python 2.7 and 3.3.
Russell runs Raspberry Pi Press, which includes The MagPi, Hello World, HackSpace magazine, and book projects. He’s a massive sci-fi bore.
Subscribe to Raspberry Pi Official Magazine
Save up to 37% off the cover price and get a FREE Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W with a subscription to Raspberry Pi Official Magazine.
More articles
Dual-screen cyberdeck
Twin screens mean you can code on one screen while watching David Bowie’s 1978 Musikladen show on the other.
Read more →
Flexible PCB watch
That’s some snazzy wearable tech on your wrist there.
Read more →
German word clock
Somehow we feel we’d be more punctual if we told the time in German.
Read more →
Sign up to the newsletter
Get every issue delivered directly to your inbox and keep up to date with the latest news, offers, events, and more.