Rating: 
Summary: Good book & Python doesn't "stink"
Review: The book is a good reference for programmers familiar with Python or other languages. To correct a previous post by another writer:1. The Python interpreter and IDE take care of indentation automatically for the programmer, so whether or not two spaces represents an adequate indentation is a moot point. The result is code that is easy to follow. 2. Python does include a generalized FOR loop; one uses it by including the RANGE statement in the declaration of the loop. 3. Python does include some very easy ways to determine to which class a method belongs: namely, the ISINSTANCE() and ISSUBCLASS() functions which are included in Python's built-in module. Java and Perl are useful languages; Python is an attractive alternative to both of them. I have built several applications with Python and found it to be a great language for building apps quickly and for teaching programming to beginners. Python can even be compiled to Java bytecode, allowing a programmer to build Python programs and Java apps. If you're a programmer who is curious about Python, give this book a try.
Rating: 
Summary: It's everything it says it is.
Review: I'm not really one for writing reviews, but after seeing quite a few people complain about "problems" with the book that have been guided by their own misconceptions, I felt I had to. Programming Python is great book, the only python book I have in fact purchased. It is the only python book I have seen so far that can not be replaced by python's excellent online documentation.
In short, some of the reviews complain that it is mistitled, a poor reference book, or a poor book to use to learn python. Lets look at the front page. The first thing that I see is "solutions for python programmers" and "programming python". I would think a reference manual would involve the words "reference" in its title. Flip a few pages and you'll see the author explain that this book is on ways to "use" python and assumes you already know the language fundamentals. Flip a few more pages and you'll see in big bold letters, "But It's Still Not a Reference Manual." The back of the book gives you a few more clues.
As far as I can see, everyone who has given this book a bad review didn't even give it one glance before purchasing it. The book covers everything it says it will, and does it well. I would recommend this book to anyone who already has a good base in python, or it willing to learn the fundamentals online to supplement the book. This book is, like the front cover says, on ways to use python after all.
Rating: 
Summary: Useless book
Review: This book is totally useless. I can never find any information I was looking for. Get the Python Essential Reference instead.
Rating:
Summary: Great Guide to a very sweet language....
Review: For those of you not aware of it, Python is an oddity as far as languages go, which in turn makes it one of the more powerful ones out there. It has the power of perl as far as scripting goes. You can use Python to write scripts to tweak your machine to your liking, make it perform certain tasks to update your system, etc. It Also interfaces with a large variety of GUI packages, Tk being the one explained in this book, but you are not limited to just this GUI interface. You have a choice between 5-10 GUI fronts that makes GUI programming a breeze. (though not as easy as VB/VB .NET). Just to re-cap, Part 1. of this book deals with scripting, part 2 is GUI programming, the next part deals with Network programming. Python makes writing my own ftp client a breeze. It has a huge network library which is part of Python's Standard library. (after writing an ftp client in C, Python is a walk in the park). Also covered in this book is how Python interfaces with databases, as well Integration, among a variety of topics covered in this book. Did I mention that Python is fully portable? Windows, Linux, Unix; Intel/ Sparc, u can run your Python program without any problems :) A few things of note. If you're new to Python, I'd recommend trying "Learning Python" first. If not, Python is an extraordinarily large language with an immense standard library for you to explore. the book walks you to a variety of little projects, so after learning the language, you'll have some fully functional programs to use (assuming you don't cheat and simply copy and programs from the companion CD).
Rating:
Summary: A great book, but aimed at a very specific audience
Review: I am just getting into this book, but it is exactly what I need. I, like another one of the reviewers here, started off with Core's Python book, which, while great to get me into the language, was no help when it came to very complex tasks. This book is ideal for someone who already understands OOP, as well as the general syntax of Python, but has no experience creating serious applications. Core's book taught me the syntax, and helped me write a few useful scripts, but I found myself in the online documentation for hours when I wanted to do something slightly obscure. This book bridged the gap, by presenting a view of Python that was easy to read, yet was tied very closely to the official documentation. Yes, perhaps for a programming veteran, the online documentation is enough, but for those not quite sure what they are looking for there, this book bridges the gap beautifully. This book convinced me in the first 50 pages that I needed to start using objects, something the entire Core book was unable to do. I knew a bit about every concept in a programmers vocabulary before reading this book. Know I know how to use them in Python. It does have a very specific audience, but reading the first ten pages will tell you that.
Rating: 
Summary: Poorly organized and not as good as the 1st edition
Review: Yuck yuck yuck. I'm so unhappy. This book reads like it was written by a 10th grader and was surly was organized by a chimp. It's not organized in any logical manor. It covers some greatly important topics only briefly and then covers totally useless stuff in depth. It spends hundreds of pages talking about web applications. That might sound like an ok idea however most Python web application developers are using Zope for good reason, doing it any other way is silly. The book also talks at length about GUI programming however it never actually gives a proper theory overview to Tkinter so really all you're learning is how to make what Mr. Lutz has already done. As a Python veteran I'd avoid this book. If I didn't already know Python and I bought this I'd be Royal mad. Learning Python is what should be bought if you're a newbie but this book is a bear even for an expert. Avoid it!
Rating: 
Summary: A good Python book - can use organizational improvement
Review: Here are the critisisms: 1) author's style of writing is somewhat convoluted. The material is not organized in any way that it can be referenced quickly. 2) there is large section on GUI programming that covers tk. How about wxPython? running a tk GUI means that your Python interpreter is calling the tcl interpreter which runs the GUI. THis can be slow. WxPython does not go through two interpreters, is cross-platform, and uses native GUI toolkit. He should have at least covered that a little bit. Otherwise the book is fun to read, and informative if you are at least a Python novice.
Rating:
Summary: Finding Info is a joke
Review: This book appeared to have lots of potential and I'm sure there is lots of useful stuff in the 1200 odd pages. But finding anything in it is impossible. The index is almost non existant and hasn't helped at all. Of course if you read faster than I do you might not mind browsing a page at a time through all 1200 pages. As a reference manual it was a waste of money.
Rating:
Summary: confusing
Review: i am used to buying books from orielly since i find them very good (not only in the field of programing). this one however blow big time. it is not organized so that you can easly slid into the launguage and it is not build like any book teaching you how to use a program language (intruduction to loops etc.).
i gave up trying to use the book.
Rating:
Summary: Faulted...
Review: It could be a lot better-- I wouldn't recomend this book. If you need a Python refrence then go for Python Bible 2.1 or Core Python Programming.
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