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Best Python Books

Advance your Python programming skills with these top-rated guides, chosen for their consistent appearance across authoritative tech and coding sources.

Recommendations from 73 articles, Tim O’Reilly, Kirk Borne, Sarah Drasner and 7 others.
Best Python Books
65 books on the list
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Fluent Python book cover
Fluent Python
Clear, Concise, and Effective Programming
Luciano Ramalho - 2015-09-15
Goodreads Rating
Learn how to write modern, effective Python 3 code with Fluent Python. Author Luciano Ramalho guides you through the language's core features and libraries, teaching you how to make your code faster, shorter, and more readable. Discover and apply idiomatic Python 3 features and avoid wasting time trying to fit in patterns from other languages. This updated edition of the hands-on guide includes major updates on control flow, data structures, object-oriented idioms, and metaprogramming.
Recommended by
Chris Albon
Python Crash Course book cover
Python Crash Course
A Hands-On, Project-Based Introduction to Programming
Eric Matthes - 2015-11-30
Goodreads Rating
"Python Crash Course (2nd Edition): A beginner-friendly guide to programming in Python. This bestselling book teaches programming basics with a focus on real projects. Author Eric Matthes provides a foundation in general programming concepts, Python fundamentals, and problem-solving. Learn how to create a video game, make graphs and charts, and build an interactive web application. Dive into the core of Python programming with this no-nonsense guide and quickly develop powerful programming skills."
Recommended by
Kirk Borne
Automate the Boring Stuff with Python book cover
Automate the Boring Stuff with Python
Practical Programming for Total Beginners
Al Sweigart - 2015-05-01 (first published in 2014)
Goodreads Rating
Learn how to write programs that can automate tedious tasks in minutes instead of hours with the second edition of this Python book. Whether you're a liberal arts major or a geek, you'll find the skills to easily automate file renaming, data scraping, PDF editing, and more using Python 3. No prior coding experience is necessary, and step-by-step instructions and practice projects throughout the book will teach you how to put your newfound skills to use. Say goodbye to drudgery and hello to efficiency with this international bestseller.
Learning Python book cover
Learning Python
Mark Lutz - 2004-01-02 (first published in 2013)
Goodreads Rating
This hands-on book provides a comprehensive and in-depth introduction to Python. Whether you're new to programming or a professional developer, you'll quickly learn to write efficient, high-quality code with Python. Complete with quizzes, exercises, and illustrations, this self-paced tutorial covers both Python 2.7 and 3.3, as well as advanced language features commonly used in Python code. Discover Python's built-in object types, learn its general syntax model, package code for reuse, dive into classes, and more. From exception handling to Unicode processing, this book has it all.
Learn Python 3 the Hard Way book cover
Learn Python 3 the Hard Way
A Very Simple Introduction to the Terrifyingly Beautiful World of Computers and Code (Zed Shaw's Hard Way Series)
Zed Shaw
Goodreads Rating
Learn Python 3 with the best system out there! In this book, you'll work through 52 exercises to learn basic mathematics, variables, looping and logic, and more. The author, Zed Shaw, will teach you how a computer works and the fundamentals of coding. You'll be able to install a complete Python environment, organize and write code, and work with users. Plus, you'll learn 5+ hours of additional content through video lessons where the author shows you how to fix, break, and debug your code. By the end, you'll know one of the world's most powerful programming languages and be able to develop basic games and websites. This book is perfect for beginners, junior developers, and seasoned professionals looking for a Python crash course.
Recommended by
Sarah Drasner
Python Cookbook book cover
Python Cookbook
Third Edition
David Beazley - 2013-06-25 (first published in 2002)
Goodreads Rating
This cookbook is a must-have for experienced Python programmers looking to focus on modern tools and idioms. It contains practical recipes for more than a dozen topics including data structures and algorithms, strings and text, network and web programming, and more. Each recipe includes code samples you can use right away and a discussion about how and why the solution works. Perfect for updating older code or writing new programs in Python 3.
Effective Python book cover
Effective Python
90 Specific Ways to Write Better Python (2nd Edition) (Effective Software Development Series)
Brett Slatkin - 2015-02-26
Goodreads Rating
Master a truly "Pythonic" approach to programming with Effective Python. This second edition is updated and expanded for Python 3, and offers 90 best practices, tips, and shortcuts for harnessing Python's full power. Author Brett Slatkin, who has experience building Python infrastructure at Google, uncovers little-known quirks and idioms that impact code behavior and performance. This book will help you write robust and well-performing code that's easier to understand, maintain, and improve. You'll learn best practices for all major areas of Python, with realistic code examples and guidance on avoiding pitfalls. Effective Python is a must-read for any programmer looking to make a big impact with Python.
Head First Python book cover
Head First Python
A Brain-Friendly Guide
Paul Barry - 2010-11-01
Goodreads Rating
Master Python basics and beyond with Head First Python. Discover built-in data structures, functions, and delve into webapp creation, database management, exception handling, and data wrangling. Context managers, decorators, comprehensions, and generators are all covered in this book. Reinforced with cutting-edge research in learning theory and cognitive science, this second edition is designed to engage your mind with a visually rich format. With Head First Python, become a certified Python programmer in no time.
Introduction to Machine Learning with Python book cover
Introduction to Machine Learning with Python
Andreas Muller - 2016-11-15 (first published in 2015)
Goodreads Rating
Learn practical ways to build your own machine learning solutions using Python with this book! Perfect for beginners, authors Andreas Müller and Sarah Guido will guide you through the process of creating successful machine-learning applications with the scikit-learn library. You'll discover how to use machine learning algorithms and focus on the practical aspects of the process. Don't wait to unlock the full potential of machine learning with Python!
Python for Data Analysis book cover
Python for Data Analysis
Data Wrangling with Pandas, NumPy, and IPython
Wes McKinney - 2012-10-01 (first published in 2011)
Goodreads Rating
An essential guide for anyone looking to manipulate, clean, and analyze structured data using Python. This second edition introduces practical case studies and covers important libraries like NumPy and pandas, offering helpful tips for beginners and experienced programmers alike. Written by the creator of the pandas library, this book is a must-read for anyone involved in data-intensive applications with Python.
Python Tricks by Dan Bader
Python Programming by John Zelle
Programming Python by Mark Lutz
Python for Everybody by Charles Russell Severance
Python Data Science Handbook by Jake Vanderplas
Python Machine Learning by Sebastian Raschka
Python Pocket Reference by Mark Lutz
Learn Python in One Day and Learn It Well by Jamie Chan
Data Science from Scratch by Joel Grus
Deep Learning with Python by François Chollet
Python Essential Reference by David Beazley
Django for Beginners by William S. Vincent
Python for Kids by Jason R. Briggs
Web Scraping with Python by Ryan Mitchell
Python Testing with pytest by Brian Okken
Serious Python by Julien Danjou
Hands-On Machine Learning with Scikit-Learn, Keras, and TensorFlow by Aurélien Géron
A Smarter Way to Learn Python by Mark Myers
Test-Driven Development with Python by Harry Percival
Coding for Kids by Adrienne Tacke
Invent Your Own Computer Games with Python, 4E by Al Sweigart
Python Programming for the Absolute Beginner by Michael Dawson
Data Science Projects with Python by Stephen Klosterman
The Hitchhiker's Guide to Python by Kenneth Reitz
Python for Finance by Yves Hilpisch
Mastering Python Networking by Eric Chou
Machine Learning with PyTorch and Scikit-Learn by Sebastian Raschka, Yuxi (Hayden) Liu, Vahid Mirjalili
Natural Language Processing with Python by Steven Bird
Violent Python by TJ O'Connor
Coding Projects in Python by D.K. Publishing
Python for Data Science for Dummies by John Paul Mueller, Luca Massaron
Intro to Python for Computer Science and Data Science by Paul J. Deitel
Python 3 Object-Oriented Programming by Dusty Phillips
Learn More Python 3 the Hard Way by Zed Shaw
Flask Web Development by Miguel Grinberg
Learn Python in 1 Day by Krishna Rungta
Grokking Algorithms by Aditya Bhargava
Architecture Patterns with Python by Harry Percival, Bob Gregory
Beyond the Basic Stuff with Python by Al Sweigart
Introducing Python by Bill Lubanovic
Creative Coding in Python by Sheena Vaidyanathan
Impractical Python Projects by Lee Vaughan
Starting Out with Python by Tony Gaddis
Powerful Python by Aaron Maxwell
Murach's Python Programming by Michael Urban
Doing Math with Python by Amit Saha
Learn Python Programming by Fabrizio Romano
Numerical Python by Robert Johansson
PYTHON FOR DATA SCIENCE by Ethan Williams
Python in a Nutshell by Alex Martelli
Core Python Programming by Wesley J. Chun
The Quick Python Book by Naomi Ceder
Python One-Liners by Christian Mayer
Python Algorithms by Magnus Lie Hetland
Python Cookbook (3rd edition) Chinese version by 布莱恩·k. 琼斯(brian K. Jones) [美]大卫·比斯利(david Beazley)