Foundations of Python Network Programming (Foundations)

Python Cookbook

Dive Into Python

Learning Python, Second Edition

Python in a Nutshell

Python

Text Processing in Python

Format: Paperback
Author: David Mertz
ReleaseDate: 02 June, 2003
Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional
Rating:

And now for something different...
To boot - the author's voice is clear and pleasant. I'd second most of the positive statements given by other reviewers. He shares his knowledge as it is, without dumbing it down or condescending. The index is very useful when you want to get in, get the information, and get back to work. This book is a great read for anyone learning or using Python seriously.

If you need to process text, this is a great book!
Note that "text processing" would include many web applications -- http is a text driven protocol. This book is not for everyone, but for "text processing", I know of nothing else that comes close; this book merits careful study. Do not be put off by the first chapter! It is the most abstract of any book I have read in decades. As the book says, you can skip it if it is a problem for you. As an illustration of how good this book is, I am now using regular expressions (selectively), and this was only possible with the help if this book! (If you do not even know what regular expressions are, you have not completed Text Processing 1. 01. ).

Very good, somewhat advanced
However, if you are an reasonably experienced programmer in Python, or any other language for that matter, this book will serve you very well. This book is not for novice programmers. Text processing is probably the most common use for Python.
Mertz is an exceptionally smart guy. A few of the things in this book were over my head, but most of it was not. He offers terrific insights into programming in general, and probably the best Python overview / tutorial I have ever seen (in one of the Appendices).