I first started with Python when I needed to write an installer for software I had written called 'Diamond' so that I could make the installation easy. I had to choose between Python and Perl bindings for the Qt library. I did some research on the web and I came across an article by Eric S. Raymond, a famous and respected hacker, where he talked about how Python had become his favorite programming language. I also found out that the PyQt bindings were more mature compared to Perl-Qt. So, I decided that Python was the language for me.
Then, I started searching for a good book on Python. I couldn't find any! I did find some O'Reilly books but they were either too expensive or were more like a reference manual than a guide. So, I settled for the documentation that came with Python. However, it was too brief and small. It did give a good idea about Python but was not complete. I managed with it since I had previous programming experience, but it was unsuitable for newbies.
About six months after my first brush with Python, I installed the (then) latest Red Hat 9.0 Linux and I was playing around with KWord. I got excited about it and suddenly got the idea of writing some stuff on Python. I started writing a few pages but it quickly became 30 pages long. Then, I became serious about making it more useful in a book form. After a lot of rewrites, it has reached a stage where it has become a useful guide to learning the Python language. I consider this book to be my contribution and tribute to the open source community.
This book started out as my personal notes on Python and I still consider it in the same way, although I've taken a lot of effort to make it more palatable to others :)
In the true spirit of open source, I have received lots of constructive suggestions, criticisms and feedback from enthusiastic readers which has helped me improve this book a lot.
The book needs the help of its readers such as yourselves to point out any parts of the book which are not good, not comprehensible or are simply wrong. Please [write to the main author]({{ book.contactUrl }}) or the respective translators with your comments and suggestions.
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No version change
- 06 Nov 2020
- Migrated from abandoned GitBook to community-maintained Honkit, a fork of GitBook legacy
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4.0
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3.0
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2.1
- 03 Aug 2013
- Rewritten using Markdown and Jason Blevins' Markdown Mode
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2.0
- 20 Oct 2012
- Rewritten in Pandoc format, thanks to my wife who did most of the conversion from the Mediawiki format
- Simplifying text, removing non-essential sections such as
nonlocaland metaclasses
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1.90
- 04 Sep 2008 and still in progress
- Revival after a gap of 3.5 years!
- Rewriting for Python 3.0
- Rewrite using MediaWiki (again)
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1.20
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1.15
- 28 Mar 2004
- Minor revisions
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1.12
- 16 Mar 2004
- Additions and corrections
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1.10
- 09 Mar 2004
- More typo corrections, thanks to many enthusiastic and helpful readers.
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1.00
- 08 Mar 2004
- After tremendous feedback and suggestions from readers, I have made significant revisions to the content along with typo corrections.
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0.99
- 22 Feb 2004
- Added a new chapter on modules. Added details about variable number of arguments in functions.
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0.98
- 16 Feb 2004
- Wrote a Python script and CSS stylesheet to improve XHTML output, including a crude-yet-functional lexical analyzer for automatic VIM-like syntax highlighting of the program listings.
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0.97
- 13 Feb 2004
- Another completely rewritten draft, in DocBook XML (again). Book has improved a lot - it is more coherent and readable.
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0.93
- 25 Jan 2004
- Added IDLE talk and more Windows-specific stuff
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0.92
- 05 Jan 2004
- Changes to few examples.
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0.91
- 30 Dec 2003
- Corrected typos. Improvised many topics.
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0.90
- 18 Dec 2003
- Added 2 more chapters. OpenOffice format with revisions.
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0.60
- 21 Nov 2003
- Fully rewritten and expanded.
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0.20
- 20 Nov 2003
- Corrected some typos and errors.
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0.15
- 20 Nov 2003
- Converted to DocBook XML with XEmacs.
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0.10
- 14 Nov 2003
- Initial draft using KWord.