Best book to keep as reference for python?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around recommendations for a Python reference book, specifically focusing on basic Python programming without delving into data science, machine learning, or game development. Participants express a desire for resources that include numerous solved and unsolved exercises.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Homework-related

Main Points Raised

  • One participant seeks a Python textbook that contains many exercises, both solved and unsolved, and mentions having some programming experience but feeling inadequate as a programmer.
  • Another participant recommends "The Python Cookbook" as a good reference, although it may not align with the request for a textbook format.
  • A suggestion is made to explore RosettaCode.org for various programming tasks in Python, which includes examples for comparison.
  • A participant shares a link to MIT's course materials on Python, indicating that it may contain the desired exercises and resources.
  • Several posts reference an XKCD comic, with one participant asking for clarification on its meaning, leading to a discussion about programmer culture and anecdotes related to programming tools and concepts.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on a specific book recommendation that meets the criteria of having numerous exercises. Multiple suggestions are made, but they do not align perfectly with the initial request.

Contextual Notes

Some participants express uncertainty about the suitability of recommended resources, indicating a lack of clarity on what constitutes an ideal textbook for their needs.

shivajikobardan
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TL;DR
book for python with exercises and as a reference
1) Basic python only no data science or machine learning or game development.
2) I have CS experience and some programming experience but I am really bad programmer, so you can discount my programming experience. But I can learn cs concepts on the go.
3) Contains lots of solved and unsolved exercises.
 
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You can checkout RosettaCode.org for many tasks to write in Python. In addition, there are examples of python code to compare your code to once you complete a task.
 
shivajikobardan said:
I missed my point. I want sth like a python textbook that has lots of exercises solved and unsolved. Not actually for a reference.
There are sets of solved and unsolved problems here: https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electri...-science-and-programming-in-python-fall-2016/

It is probably worth looking at all the materials on that course (which are provided under an open source license by MIT), they might be just what you want. I believe this course uses the Spyder IDE, which is provided as part of the Anaconda distribution, another good way to get started if you are on Windows.
 
pbuk said:
what's the meaning of this? Pardon if I can't restart an old thread.
 
This cartoon is a mashup of programmer lore where each programmer tries to one up the other.

I once saw a programmer using vi on unix to do some edits and asked why he didnt use the supereditor Emacs withh all its cool functionality and lisplike macros.

He said simply vi is everywhere ie it is on every unix platform whereas emacs is optional so why learn an editor that may not be installed.

The butterfly effect is how small changes can result in catastrophic effects.

The cosmic rays story was a discovery that those random bit flips that some computers inexplicably experienced were a result of cosmic rays.

The ultimate one up was the butterfly effect from chaos theory and then the cosmic rays flipping a bit to produce the result only to get back to emacs already having that capability.

There used to be a one up styled show where contestants would challenge one another in naming a song. One would say i can name it in six notes and another would say i can name it in five notes.

Finally, someone would say name that song and they'd play the first n notes. The winner was the one who named the song.
 
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