This post reviews three Python books that have come out recently:
- SciPy and NumPy from O’Reilly
- Python for Kids: A Playful Introduction to Programming from No Starch Press
- NumPy Cookbook from Packt
SciPy and NumPy (ISBN 1449305466) by Eli Bressert is the smallest book I’ve seen from O’Reilly, aside from books in their pocket guide series. The SciPy and NumPy libraries are huge, and it can be hard to know where to start. This book gives a good, brisk overview. In addition to SciPy and NumPy, the it also gives a brief introduction to SciKit, in particular scikit-learn for machine learning and scikit-image for image processing.
(Eli told me that he is working on supplementary material for the book. Everyone who bought the book electronically will automatically receive the new material when it is available.)
Python for Kids (ISBN 1593274076) by Jason R. Briggs is an introduction to programming aimed at kids. It starts with an introduction to Python and moves to developing a simple game. It seems to me that kids would find the book interesting. It’s about seven times longer than the SciPy and NumPy book. It moves at a slow pace, has many illustrations, and has a casual tone.
NumPy Cookbook by Ival Idris contains around 70 small recipes, about three pages each. Many of these are about NumPy itself, but the book covers much more than its title would imply. Out of 10 chapters, four are strictly about NumPy. The first chapter of the book is about IPython. Another chapter is about “connecting NumPy with the rest of the world,” i.e. interfacing with Java, R, Matlab, and cloud services. Two chapters are devoted to profiling, debugging, and optimizing performance. There is a chapter on quality assurance (static analysis, unit testing, and documentation). And the final chapter is about Scikits and Pandas.
Any word on if the new material be available for purchase for those who bought the dead tree version?
I don’t know.
I imagine people who purchase the paper version could access the material, but they’ll have to go get it: the publisher has no way to push it to them.