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Head First Python: A Brain-Friendly Guide 2nd Edition
There is a newer edition of this item:
Want to learn the Python language without slogging your way through how-to manuals? With Head First Python, you'll quickly grasp Python's fundamentals, working with the built-in data structures and functions. Then you'll move on to building your very own webapp, exploring database management, exception handling, and data wrangling. If you're intrigued by what you can do with context managers, decorators, comprehensions, and generators, it's all here. This second edition is a complete learning experience that will help you become a bonafide Python programmer in no time.
Why does this book look so different? Based on the latest research in cognitive science and learning theory, Head First Pythonuses a visually rich format to engage your mind, rather than a text-heavy approach that puts you to sleep. Why waste your time struggling with new concepts? This multi-sensory learning experience is designed for the way your brain really works.
- ISBN-101491919531
- ISBN-13978-1491919538
- Edition2nd
- PublisherO'Reilly Media
- Publication dateDecember 27, 2016
- LanguageEnglish
- Dimensions8.15 x 1.22 x 9.17 inches
- Print length622 pages
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From the Publisher
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About 'Head First' Books
We think of a Head First Reader as a Learner
Learning isn't something that just happens to you. It's something you do. You can't learn without pumping some neurons. Learning means building more mental pathways, bridging connections between new and pre-existing knowledge, recognizing patterns, and turning facts and information into knowledge (and ultimately, wisdom). Based on the latest research in cognitive science, neurobiology, and educational psychology, Head First books get your brain into learning mode.
Here's how we help you do that:
We tell stories using casual language, instead of lecturing. We don't take ourselves too seriously. Which would you pay more attention to: a stimulating dinner party companion, or a lecture?
We make it visual. Images are far more memorable than words alone, and make learning much more effective. They also make things more fun.
We use attention-grabbing tactics. Learning a new, tough, technical topic doesn't have to be boring. The graphics are often surprising, oversized, humorous, sarcastic, or edgy. The page layout is dynamic: no two pages are the same, and each one has a mix of text and images.
Metacognition: thinking about thinking
If you really want to learn, and you want to learn more quickly and more deeply, pay attention to how you pay attention. Think about how you think. The trick is to get your brain to see the new material you're learning as Really Important. Crucial to your well-being. Otherwise, you're in for a constant battle, with your brain doing its best to keep the new content from sticking.
If you answer 'yes' to all of these, this book is for you
- Do you already know how to program in another programming language?
- Do you wish you had the know-how to program Python, add it to your list of tools, and make it do new things?
- Do you prefer actually doing things and applying the stuff you learn over listening to someone in a lecture rattle on for hours on end?
![](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/S/aplus-media/vc/2cebe217-f3a9-4c00-b04d-64de2f667505._SL300__.png)
Here's what we do:
We use pictures, because your brain is tuned for visuals, not text. As far as your brain's concerned, a picture really is worth a thousand words. And when text and pictures work together, we embedded the text in the pictures because your brain works more effectively when the text is within the thing the text refers to, as opposed to in a caption or buried in the text somewhere.
We use redundancy, saying the same thing in different ways and with different media types, and multiple senses, to increase the chance that the content gets coded into more than one area of your brain.
We use concepts and pictures in unexpected ways because your brain is tuned for novelty, and we use pictures and ideas with at least some emotional content, because your brain is more likely to remember when you feel something.
We use a personalized, conversational style, because your brain is tuned to pay more attention when it believes you're in a conversation than if it thinks you're passively listening to a presentation.
We include many activities, because your brain is tuned to learn and remember more when you do things than when you read about things. And we make the exercises challenging-yet-do-able, because that's what most people prefer.
We use multiple learning styles, because you might prefer step-by-step procedures, while someone else wants to understand the big picture first, and someone else just wants to see an example. But regardless of your own learning preference, everyone benefits from seeing the same content represented in multiple ways.
We include content for both sides of your brain, because the more of your brain you engage, the more likely you are to learn and remember, and the longer you can stay focused. Since working one side of the brain often means giving the other side a chance to rest, you can be more productive at learning for a longer period of time.
We include challenges by asking questions that don't always have a straight answer, because your brain is tuned to learn and remember when it has to work at something.
Finally, we use people in our stories, examples, and pictures, because, well, you're a person. Your brain pays more attention to people than to things.
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : O'Reilly Media; 2nd edition (December 27, 2016)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 622 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1491919531
- ISBN-13 : 978-1491919538
- Item Weight : 2.72 pounds
- Dimensions : 8.15 x 1.22 x 9.17 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #286,849 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #12 in Object-Oriented Software Design
- #273 in Python Programming
- #608 in Software Design, Testing & Engineering (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
![Paul Barry](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/S/amzn-author-media-prod/9v1dbar4co5pf51u7bkl14sqo._SY600_.jpg)
Paul lives in Ireland and works at the South East Technological University (SETU), where he is based at the Kilkenny Road Campus in Carlow. Paul lectures as part of the academic Computing Department, and has taught for a long time, using Python with all of his class groups for close to fifteen years.
Paul spent the late ‘80s and early ‘90s working in the IT industry, mainly within a Healthcare setting in Canada. He’s also written other books and—back in the day— was a contributing editor at Linux Journal magazine.
Customer reviews
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Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers find the book an excellent introduction to Python. It provides useful information and explains the details clearly. Many readers find it a valuable resource and consider it fun to read. However, opinions differ on the readability - some find it clear and easy to understand, while others feel it goes from simple to complex too quickly.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers find the book an excellent introduction to Python. It covers the areas of interest and explains the details clearly. They appreciate the interactive programs and say it's a fun way to learn any programming language.
"...Both books do a solid job of introducing you to the areas of interest, but neither do a very good job of teaching a novice like myself how to start..." Read more
"...else makes each book familiar but distinct, and easy to work through as leisure...." Read more
"I haven't started this one, but I love Head First books. They helped me start and enjoy coding during the pandemic...." Read more
"Excellent introduction to Python. The book focuses on being fun to read and providing a real understanding of why things work the way they do...." Read more
Customers find the book helpful and informative. They find it easy to follow and a valuable resource for learning to code. The topics are covered in an engaging way that makes learning new concepts interesting.
"...The explanations are intuitive, easy to follow, and the topics are covered in a way that facilitates (successful) user experimentation...." Read more
"...The book focuses on being fun to read and providing a real understanding of why things work the way they do...." Read more
"...need another book, but for a true beginner like myself this was really helpful. I also really like the head first books on other topics too." Read more
"Was such a valuable resource for me when I was beginning to learn to code. Would highly recommend to new comers looking to learn the basics of python." Read more
Customers find the book engaging and helpful for learning Python. They describe it as a fun way to explore the language and say it's an excellent book for learning Python.
"...sense of order, the cartoonish-looking page layouts really do aid the learning process...." Read more
"...First books is that they take the usual 101 textbook format and make it fun, interesting, and dialectically unique, in a common format...." Read more
"Excellent introduction to Python. The book focuses on being fun to read and providing a real understanding of why things work the way they do...." Read more
"...This book was so much fun I burned through it in 3 days, and feel like I have a really sound base to build on...." Read more
Customers have mixed opinions about the book's readability. Some find it clear and easy to understand, with good graphics and fonts. Others feel it goes from simple to complex too quickly, lacks attention to principles of programming, and the kindle version is hard to read.
"...Head First Python is a pretty quick read because of all of the graphics and generous spacing...." Read more
"...The book went from too simple to too complex too quickly. I think four stars is being generous...." Read more
"...Down to a science. The writing, images, diagrams, asides, and everything else makes each book familiar but distinct, and easy to work through as..." Read more
"...the topics so much more interesting with different pictures and graphics and fonts, AND they ask you to create solutions for progressively more..." Read more
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Easy to pick up
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on January 7, 2018I'm learning Python for my job. My specific application is focused on data science and rote task automation.
Before getting this book, I had picked up a copy of "Automate the Boring Stuff With Python" and "Python for Data Analysis". Both books do a solid job of introducing you to the areas of interest, but neither do a very good job of teaching a novice like myself how to start programming in Python (in my humble opinion). In those two books, I would struggle to get through the end-of-chapter test programs, because they required a lot of information that either wasn't addressed, or wasn't discussed until later in the book.
That's where this book comes in. The explanations are intuitive, easy to follow, and the topics are covered in a way that facilitates (successful) user experimentation. Right now, I'm using all three books in tandem and things are starting to click and my code is starting to work with a lot less Googling and a little more tinkering on my part. Head First Python is a pretty quick read because of all of the graphics and generous spacing. Although I tend to prefer a sense of order, the cartoonish-looking page layouts really do aid the learning process. I believe that there is a psychological effect experienced by some people, wherein turning a page imparts a sense of progress. You will certainly turn a lot of pages quickly when reading this book, because of the layouts. This may give some people the fuel to keep going for longer stretches than they would if they were reading 50-page chapters of dense, verbose material.
At the end of the day, I highly recommend this book, especially if you want to supplement it with something that pushes you a little more toward a specific application of Python. In my spare time over the last three weeks, I've cleared about 200 pages of each of the 3 books and I've written around 20 or 30 little programs (on top of dozens of hours in the iPython shell). By the end of week 4, I expect to start producing code for some of my medium-scope projects, and I'll continue to build on it as I learn.
- Reviewed in the United States on January 12, 2021I've been learning from O'Reilly books for 21 years now, and I've never found anything to complain about in them. The Head First group of books has over the last few years become on of my favorite series from them. I've been programming for 24 years. My first O'Reilly book was the Camel book--the PERL reference, which helped me quickly reach a new level of competency in programming. My affinity for the Head First books is that they take the usual 101 textbook format and make it fun, interesting, and dialectically unique, in a common format. Down to a science. The writing, images, diagrams, asides, and everything else makes each book familiar but distinct, and easy to work through as leisure. I've been programming since I was 17, and most books back then were aimed at college students or professionals. It's nice to find books I can learn from leisurely, as I want to learn as many languages as I can. And these are also books I would suggest for younger programming enthusiasts at any level as a thorough introduction.
- Reviewed in the United States on May 20, 2024I haven't started this one, but I love Head First books. They helped me start and enjoy coding during the pandemic. I expect nothing less, but will add an update later.
- Reviewed in the United States on February 3, 2021I really liked this book at first. After 200 pages, I didn't feel that it had covered much of the language. Then, I hit Chapter 6 and this chapter needs a serious rewrite. When the 3rd edition comes out, I'd like to see the author teach more of the basics before he has us start installing and using external packages and importing pre-built HTML and cascading style sheets. The book went from too simple to too complex too quickly. I think four stars is being generous. If I knew this book was centered so much around the "Webapp" I would not have purchased it.
- Reviewed in the United States on January 21, 2017Excellent introduction to Python. The book focuses on being fun to read and providing a real understanding of why things work the way they do. The other two intro to Python books I have are not fun to read and concentrate more on trying to teach the reader as many functions as possible but at the cost of being a bit dry.
The author spends several chapters explaining how Python can be used to create a web app that stores and manipulates user entered data in text and SQL databases. This is also a topic I was very interested in but assumed I would need another book for it.
I invested about 30 hours over 2 weeks going through this book and I feel that I now truly understand the foundation of how Python works. This book is definitely not a reference book but that's what Google is for.
- Reviewed in the United States on August 13, 2021This book does a great job at explaining all the fine details of Python 3, and makes it easy for both beginners or intermediate developers alike. I was able to quickly get back up to speed with my programming skills with this book and now feel confident in my basic understanding of Python. The practice problems in this book help keep you up to speed with each chapter as well. If you want to take you Python skills from 0-100, I would highly recommend this book as you’ll learn more than any university book that’ll be given to you. I honestly with my university had made this my first book. In my opinion, this the best beginner book by a long shot.
- Reviewed in the United States on May 3, 2019This book makes you think, instead of all the other books that just show you examples and force you to learn through repetition. The authors did a great job of making the topics so much more interesting with different pictures and graphics and fonts, AND they ask you to create solutions for progressively more difficult problems. I have read many technology related publications over many years and this book is different from everything else I have read, and I learned much more quickly using this style.
Top reviews from other countries
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Très bienReviewed in Canada on September 9, 2024
5.0 out of 5 stars Super bien
Bon ouvrage
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José Huerta IbarraReviewed in Mexico on September 23, 2021
5.0 out of 5 stars Está elaborado a partir de principios didácticos
Es un libro que tiene una organización didáctica notable. Sigue los principios psicopedagógicos disponibles derivados de las investigaciones mas recientes en torno a el aprendizaje y la enseñanza contingente. En el prólogo destaca los fundamentos sobre los que se ha elaborado el contenido orientado a la adquisición del conocimiento mediante la práctica y el ejercicio de las habilidades basadas en la ejercitación de actividades que consoliden el aprendizaje tendiente a una aplicación profesional del conocimiento.
Un lenguaje de complejidad creciente expresa los temas guiando al lector-aprendiz en la adquisición del conocimiento que al cabo de cada capítulo se admira de haber logrado superar la complejidad inherente a la programación. Cumple eficazmente con las promesas ofrecidas. Es un libro que se podría emplear en una clase de pedagogía para evidenciar cómo lograr la aplicación de los principios descubiertos en las investigaciones psicopedagógicas sobre el aprendizaje de temas complejos.
- KiranReviewed in India on December 3, 2023
5.0 out of 5 stars Must have!
Love the way it talks about the concepts
- ELHAM HonarvarReviewed in Italy on June 15, 2022
5.0 out of 5 stars innovation
very interesting with lots of pictures and its innovation
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Eric BaugeReviewed in France on June 21, 2021
5.0 out of 5 stars Un bon livre pour acquérir facilement les grands principes du Python
+ : la présentation "head first" rend réellement plus abordable l'acquisition des concepts, même une peu compliqués (ex : "comprehension", "decorators" , "context management class").
+ : au final, l'essentiel du python est bien transmis.
- : une grande partie des exemples est consacrée à une application de type web, ce qui n'est pas vraiment ce qui m'intéressait au premier abord. Mais les exemples sont souvent là, plus pour servir la pédagogie que pour servir de base à des développements.