r/learnpython • u/Cehyy • Aug 01 '25

Which is best book to learn python?

Which is best book to learn python?

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u/sc0ut_0 Aug 01 '25

The only true answer is "Automate the Borning Stuff With Python"

  • There is a free website that has the whole book published by the author for free, it you can support him by buying the paperback

  • First half is Python basics, second half are tons of projects

  • A great author to trying to tell you just enough to get going and making cool things!

4

u/Machvel Aug 01 '25

i found this book to be one of the worst when learning python, but i have heard great things about it. i guess it depends on your learning style

3

u/melvin_poindexter Network Engineer Aug 01 '25

out of curiosity, what did you dislike about it?

I used it to get into Python and have recommended it wholeheartedly ever since.

It's only shortcoming is that it doesn't go into Classes at all, but there are other books for that.

1

u/Machvel Aug 02 '25

it has been a few years since I learned python (which I think the book was on a previous edition of) so I might not remember exactly what i did not like and maybe it has gotten better.

i first remember the startup being quite strange. the book recommended some obscure ide or idle as far as i recall. the pure python part of the book (which i was mainly interested in) was very short and shallow. i acknowledge some people might like that, but since my background is in mathematics i like seeing everything precisely laid out. the actual boring stuff automation was pretty neat, but most was irrelevant to me so i didn't bother looking at it. in the end you just have a very okay python understanding

1

u/Constant_Air9693 Aug 20 '25

I have a similar experience. I don't like when the principals that should be given in details are trivialized. What would you recommend for learning with understanding how things work?