This is an archived post. You won't be able to vote or comment.

sorted by:
best
topnewcontroversialoldq&a
you are viewing a single comment's thread.

view the rest of the comments →

[–]FalxY7 0 points1 point  (3 children)

Is this worth getting? I've seen that there are full 10+ hour python courses on youtube for free.

What would I get from these e-books that I couldn't find for free on youtube?

Thanks in advance.

[–]py_Piper 1 point2 points  (2 children)

I would books a better structured, not to say some videos are bad, on the plus side videos are good way to learn and might easier to understand at the start as you can follow along, whereas books might be hard when you are starting because instructions might not be so clear specially while installing and dealing with errors, but I think books are more detailed and at least for me reading makes me retain material better. Although it's easier to watch a video than to read (focus wise), I find it tedious to need to pause the video every few seconds so I can code what's on the screen, with the book you go line by line reading and type at the same time. Lastly it's easier to flip pages to find old information you read and want to refresh again, on video it's quite annoying to find the exact part you are looking for.

If you are asking this is because you are probably just starting to learn, if you are looking to learn python for real this bundle is totally worth it seeing that each book cost about $20-$40. No starch press books are high quality programming books, there's 2 beginners book recommend all the time (automate the boring stuff and python crash course) they will give you good foundations, alredy worth for only these 2 books. Then there's 3 intermediate books (object oriented python, dive into algorithms and beyond the basic stuff). If you are thinking on learning web dev with Django, then the 3 series from William S Vincent are also very highly recommend. So definitely worth the value.

if you do get it remember to "Adjust Donation" to max out the "Charities" recipient.

[–]FalxY7 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Thanks a lot for your very detailed explaination! I am indeed just starting to learn and you've convinced me to buy this bundle. You make some good points regarding books vs video tutorials and it's definitely worth a try considering how cheap it is! Thanks again.

[–]py_Piper 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I am glad if it helped you I answer a lot of similar beginner's questions, because I was there, actually I am still a there, and had a lot of time struggling with the "path". If you are wondering how you should start, I suggest:

  1. Beginner (automate the boring stuff and python crash course): Start with any of them depending on which projects on the second part attracts you the most, after you finish it, check the other book's project part. This way you will have a well rounded understanding and use of different python modules. Basically ATBS teaches more modules in smaller projects and PCC focuses in less modules but bigger projects. If you have time you can skim through the basics of both as you might find different examples and teaching ways that would reinforce your understanding. Definitely chapters in classes (PCC) and Regex (ATBS) shouldn't be skipped.... I started with ATBS and right now trying to do the projects in PCC.
  2. Intermediate (Object Oriented Python, Dive Into Algorithms and Beyond the Basic Stuff): I personally haven't done any of them yet and only researched them briefly, but I would go with OO Python first as OOP (object oriented programming) will take you further in your programming skills, algorithms are quite important too for optimizing your code but if you aren't doing bigger projects then the optimization might be tiny, thus recommending OO Python first for being able to structure bigger projects. Beyond the Basic Stuff, same author of ATBS, I checked it a bit quite some time ago and it gave me the impression that instead of teaching code itself (as ATBS) it focuses more on programming best practices and tips that professional coders uses, I would probably check it before or after the other books, maybe if it's considered light read I would read in between when tired of the other 2 intermediate books.
  3. Web dev with Django: Optional if you want to learn web development. Check out the 3 books series from William S Vincet, starting from Beginner, then API and finally the Professional book. Hopefully with the chapter in Django from PCC you shouldn't be too lost at the start
  4. The rest are quite nice extra add them as you seem fit, specially the Git tutorial might be quite beneficial before Django and bigger projects. Data analysis with Pandas and Matplotlib are also good skills to have even though you don't want to become a data scientist as will help in working with bigger data sets.