Rating: 
Summary: great
Review: A really great book, I'm proud that the author is an Italian :o)
Rating:
Summary: A+
Review: Alex Martelli reveals his teaching experience and deep knowledge of Python with this highly readable, information rich book.Compared to other python books, it has more thorough coverage, more instructive examples, and is the most up-to-date. While intended as a desktop reference, the book is highly instructive and can be read straight-through. Each section contains both reference material and text packed with core concepts, examples, rules-of-thumb, and practical advice. Rather than duplicate existing documentation, the author has been highly selective and guides you to the most important parts of CPython, Jython, and third-party extensions. Without this book, expert assistance would be needed to effectively select the best python toolsets. For people with older Python books, this one will best bring you up to speed with Python 2.2 and beyond. It offers the clearest treatment of new-style classes, generators, the email module, unittests, doctests and XML tools.
Rating: 
Summary: Good fast-paced intro to Python - also excellent reference
Review: All told, I really liked Python In a Nutshell. I've programmed primarily in Java and C over the past 8 years, so that's my bias. I have wanted something a little more high level than Java. I got chills when I realized that I didn't have to write another "Iterator iter = list.iterator(); while (iter.hasNext()) { Item item = (Item) iter.next(); item.doThis(); }" loop! How about "for item in list: item.doThis()"? This book took me about two weeks to digest while reading it on the bus before and after work. The information was presented clearly enough to allow me to write production scripts directly after finishing chapters 1-9. The core of the Python language is described in chapters 4-9. This includes a discussion about basic types and syntax, object-oriented syntax, exceptions, Python modules, and strings (including basic regular expressions). I liked learning about Jython, but the chapter (chapter 25) that introduces Jython doesn't go as far as I would have liked. I would have expected at least a description of how types map between Java and Python. The rest of the book is a general reference about the many modules that exist for use to do about anything you want. These API references are well-organized and very accessible. The index is excellent (esp. for the first chapters - helpful for people new to Python, like me).
Rating:
Summary: "Python in a Nutshell" is fantastic.
Review: Four days ago, I had 10 years C++ experience and had never written a line of Python code. Today I am more productive in Python than I ever was in C++. I am not exaggerating. This book is largely responsible for my rapid ascent to proficiency.
All the glowing reviews are accurate. This book is well organized, well written, detailed, and easy to read. A true gem.
I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Best Python book to date
Review: Having been a programmer for 20 years and knowing several languages, I didn't want an introductory text on Python. I needed something that dove right in and told me what this language could do. This is the book that I used to really learn Python. The others are collecting dust. My only beef is that he avoided a discussion of using ZODB for object persistence.
Rating:
Summary: Great Reading
Review: I admit I had a hard time getting started with this book but found it to be quite interesting.
Rating:
Summary: Best Distillation of Python Anwhere
Review: I bought this book after working through Learning Python by Lutz and Ascher, and reading sections of other books. It is now my #1 reference. The examples are few, but well chosen to do more than just demonstrate the language. They can show you why a particular syntax or technique is needed. Often I waste a lot of time learning something I don't really need, like lambda functions. By the time I have figured out that lambda functions are not some elegant new concept, just an awkward piece of syntax to do something simple, I've already spent too much time. Alternatively, I decide that something like metaclasses are a waste, and miss something really elegant and useful. Martelli's four pages on metaclasses capture better than anything I've read on the subject, exactly what metaclasses are good for and how they work.
I think the dynamite combo for someone learning Python is both the Nutshell and the Learning book. I would read the Nutshell chapter first ( assuming you have a little background in programming ) then work problems in Learning Python until you are comfortable. Then re-read Nutshell, highlighting the key points you might need to re-learn in the midst of a rush project. Python in a nutshell is the best distillation of Python wisdom I have seen anywhere.
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Summary: This book can even teach developers of the language!
Review: I bought this book at the PyCon 2003 Python conference mainly to complete my Python book collection. I thought that since it was a Nutshell book and I already knew a ton about Python (I am an official developer on the language) that I wouldn't really pick up that much. I was wrong. Not only did I learn some new things, but Alex's wonderful way of presenting ideas helped clarify and present a different view of some vital concepts in Python that made them even easier to grasp than I had originally thought. There is a reason why he is called the Martellibot on comp.lang.python and the python-dev mailing list. I also have a friend who is a programmer who has read the first chapter or so of the book and has also found it a great way to learn Python. So whether you are a hardened Python programmer or just starting out (as long as you can already program), this book is definitely worth the money. And the Python Cookbook makes a great companion book to this to pick up a few tricks and get even more example code to learn from (especially from my contributed recipes to the book =).
Rating: 
Summary: Can't be definitive....
Review: I expected this to be as comprehensive as the Java in a Nutshell books (i.e., to cover all standard modules/functions). But the first time I crack the cover I can't even find 'signal' in the index. Sure enough, there's no coverage at all of this utterly standard topic. I had to look in Dave Beazley's book to get the info (there's a standard 'signal' module that's been in since at least python 2.0). It seems like a crime for a reference book to be 600+ pages long and not get around to at least listing all the standard modules in the language.
Rating: 
Summary: A disapointment
Review: I got this book looking to learn Python, and for that it's useless. I don't really see a point for the book, the author basically says "if you want to learn python then you need another book", this book is just something to refresh your memory from time to time for once you know Python. Though personally I wanted a book which taught me Python, and then I'd use THAT as the 'something to refresh your memory'. But now I'm stuck with a book which bypasses everything that teaches you the basic syntax of Python, I have no way of learning it with this book, it goes into the more complicated code examples and leaves out simple stuff like how to do IF statements etc. Unless you know Python well already, don't buy this book, it isn't for the beginner.
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