7 Best Python Books To Learn Programming

Pursuing the right programming language can be a big challenge given the fact that there are close to 300 different programming languages one can learn.

It’s no secret that coding skills are highly sought after and often very well remunerated in the IT industry. However, it’s not possible for one to learn every language, and some skills are more valuable than others.

Therefore, making the right choice is very important as programming skills are highly sought after and often the highest paid job positions in tech companies.

Python is one such famous and most useful computer programming language that continues to feature among the top languages.

Python is a widely used high-level, general-purpose, interpreted, dynamic programming language in the late 1980s, and named after Monty Python, that’s used by thousands of people to do things from testing microchips at Intel to powering Instagram, to building video games with the PyGame library.

Its design philosophy emphasizes code readability, and its syntax allows programmers to express concepts in fewer lines of code than possible in languages such as C++ or Java.

It is also one of the famous programming languages used by major organizations and corporations. Learning Python is important as it is a cross-platform computer language that is used by giant corporations to do work in a quick and efficient manner.

7 Best Python books to learn programming

1. Learning Python

Written by Mark Lutz and David Ascher, this book offers a comprehensive, in-depth introduction to the core Python language. It is basically a book written for gaining a better insight about the programming at a beginner’s level and can be used to derive a strong foundation over the subject matter. This book is important because it covers important areas of Python such as Python 2.7. X and 3.X. It’s an ideal way to begin, whether you’re new to programming or a professional developer versed in other languages.

2. Python Programming: An Introduction To Computer Science

This is the second edition of John Zelle’s Python Programming, updated for Python 3. It offers foundational concepts of computer science in a form that is clear and easy to understand. It is about theory and its practical application. It takes a fairly traditional approach, emphasizing problem-solving, design, and programming as the core skills of computer science. It is ideal to be read by beginners and new python programmers, as it provides for a strong foundation on the subject. It also touches upon important subjects like Structure and Introduction of Computer programs.

3. Violent Python: A Cookbook For Hackers, Forensic Analysts, Penetration Testers And Security Engineers

Written by TJ O’Connor, this book is an introductory level book on Python programming language that provides a clear cut understanding of the different areas of the language like tools and concepts. This book will teach you to forge your own weapons using the Python programming language instead of relying on another attacker’s tools. It is the best book to read when it comes to security concepts and deals with forensics, tool integration for complicated protocols like SMB. It also demonstrates how to write Python scripts to automate large-scale network attacks, extract metadata, and investigate forensic artifacts. Additionally, it also shows how to write code to intercept and analyze network traffic using Python, craft and spoof wireless frames to attack wireless and Bluetooth devices, and how to data-mine popular social media websites and evade modern anti-virus. The book is apt to be used by those programmers who already have a good understanding over the Python language.

4. Python Cookbook

This book by David Beazley and Brian K. Jones covers all the crucial areas regarding Python language and introduces one towards the much-needed techniques that has a huge scope, including simple string concentration to that of recursive decent parsers writing. Packed with practical recipes written and tested with Python 3.3, this unique cookbook is for experienced Python programmers who want to focus on modern tools and idioms.In this book one can find dozen of topics covering the core Python language as well as tasks common to a wide variety of application domains. Each recipe contains code samples you can use in your projects right away. It also covers extensively on the subject generators and iteration methods. This book is a must read for those who want to become good at Python programming language.

5. Python Essential Reference

Written by David M. Beazley, this book is a comprehensive reference to the Python programming language. The focus of this latest edition is to add coverage of significant new features and new library modules added to the language over the past five years. It also includes the omitted sections of Python 2 and provides a detailed overview of the language and helps in gaining a practical knowledge over the subject. Clearly written with concise organization, the new features covered include new style classes, unification of types and classes, xmlrpclip, intertools, bz2 and optparse, making it the most up-to-date Python book on the market. This book is the one that programmers need to read first.

6. Python For Data Analysis

Written by Wes McKinney, the main author of the pandas library, this hands-on book is packed with practical cases studies. It’s ideal for analysts new to Python and for Python programmers new to scientific computing.

Python for Data Analysis is concerned with the nuts and bolts of manipulating, processing, cleaning, and crunching data in Python. It is also a practical, modern introduction to scientific computing in Python, tailored for data-intensive applications. This is a book about the parts of the Python language and libraries you will need to effectively solve a broad set of data analysis problems. This book is not an exposition on analytical methods using Python as the implementation language.

7. Python In A Nutshell

This book by Alex Martelli demonstrates the programming language’s strength as a Web development tool, covering syntax, data types, built-ins, the Python standard module library, and real world examples. This comprehensive reference guide makes it easy to look up the most frequently needed information–not just about the Python language itself, but also the most frequently used parts of the standard library and the most important third-party extensions.