Great intro

The shelves of the cube farm where I work seem wallpapered with the bindings of O'Reilly books. Titles like this explain why. As with the best of the Nutshell series, this one gives the experienced programmer a running start at a new language. Don't expect much in the way of hand-holding or CS101 introduction. Do expect a concise, hardworking description of the language and its major APIs.

It doesn't start the way most language books do. Instead, and quite logically, it begins with installation of the language and its tools, an obvious pre-req to using it. As with other modern languages, the description of the language itself becomes entwined with its core libraries. Even so, this small language takes little more than 150 pages to cover quite thoroughly. The next 450+ pages present libraries that a skilled programmer expects: IO, process management, networking, and pacticalities of debug and optimization. A lengthy index helps the reader find isolated facts quickly.

As for the language itself - well, it has its fans, but I'm not one of them. I don't have to be, I just have to use it. This book is just what I need to get my job done.

-- wiredweird

Other Reviews

• Great intro
• Excellent reference book for Python. Not for learning, but great reference.
• Not a Nutshell
• Just Good Enough
• In a Nutshell is correct.