Effective Python
The Python programming language has unique strengths and charms that can be hard to grasp. Many programmers familiar with other languages often approach Python from a limited mindset instead of embracing its full expressivity. Some programmers go too far in the other direction, overusing Python features that can cause big problems later. Effective Python provides insight into the Pythonic way of writing programs: the best way to use Python. It builds on a fundamental understanding of the language that I assume you already have. Novice programmers will learn the best practices of Python’s capabilities. Experienced programmers will learn how to embrace the strangeness of a new tool with confidence. -[][1]
Stats for nerds
22recommend
45mentions
33people
2012–2026years
73% recommend27% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- I adore programming books... for a specific use case. If I want to learn a lot about a subject, nothing is better than a book:
- it was edited, so ideas and text are consistent
- the examples worked (at some point in time)
- the author has enough time-space to clearly describe a lot of material well
Nothing beats a book for an enormous amount of detailed information. Even just reading the table of contents helps to help understand what to focus on during study.
My copy of "DevOps Handbook" is covered in tags and handwritten notes. Brett Slatkin's "Effective Python" is way too much for me, but I got a ton out of the parts I focused on. No other media is like books!
- I would love if we could seed LLMs with specific books, or give our own weightings to sources. I'm sure most books are in there already, I would happily pay extra (and want it to go to original authors) for known provenance of advice. Even pass royalties back to the original authors. For PyData code, I'm always looking at Effective Python/Polars.
- I enjoyed Effective Python. It's a "tips" style book with a good handful of recommendations with use cases and applications.
- Fluent Python and Effective Python are good books. The former is huge and is really multiple books in one.
- >> One liners are cool and fun to write, but trying to decipher someone else's incredibly dense bash or perl one-liner is absolutely awful.
You can write hard-to-read code in any programming language.
Python lets you with mandatory whitespace so that the awfulness spans multiple lines instead.
Really talented Python programmers can do downright demonic stuff with list comprehensions.
Python appears to be simple, but is actually quite complex. I recommend reading "Effective Python" (https://effectivepython.com/) to see beneath the surface.
- > I am looking to actively learn how to write more "pythonic" code.
Effective Python is a great book which aims to teach people who already know the language how to use it well.
