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Python Playground, 2nd Edition: Geeky Projects for the Curious Programmer

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Put the fun back in Python programming and build your skills as you create 3D simulations and graphics, speech-recognition machine-learning systems, IoT devices, and more.

The fully updated 2nd edition is here, now with 5 brand-new projects!

Harness the power of Python as you turn code into tangible creations with Python Playground , a collection of 15 inventive projects that will expand your programming horizons, spark your curiosity, and elevate your coding skills.

Go beyond the basics as you write programs to generate art and music, simulate real-world phenomena, and interact with hardware, all through the use of Python and common libraries such as numpy, matplotlib, and Pillow.

As you work through the book’s projects, you

New to this We’ve expanded your playground with five new you’ll draw fractals, bring Conway’s Game of Life into 3D space, and use a Raspberry Pi and Python to create a musical instrument, an IoT garden monitor, and even a machine learning–driven speech recognition system.

Whether you’re a seasoned professional or just getting started, you’ll find Python Playground to be a great way to learn, experiment with, and master this versatile programming language.

Covers Python 3.x

448 pages, Paperback

First published February 25, 2015

72 people are currently reading
423 people want to read

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5 stars
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
Profile Image for Karthikeyan Chellappa.
10 reviews6 followers
December 20, 2015
This is one of those rare programming books that is fun to read, and yet suited for the intermediate / advanced python programmer. I reckon even the novices should take a stab at this book, if anything to realize that the true power of Python is not just the simplicity and elegance of the language, but the vast array of open source packages that are available at your disposal to do just about anything, and this book does a great job at demonstrating that. From ASCII art & musical overtones to hardware hacking with Ardunio & Raspberry Pi, this book is enjoyable from start to finish.
Profile Image for Ben.
2,730 reviews225 followers
February 13, 2024
Playing Around

This is a fantastic book on learning and enjoying Python programming.

I found that the author has a bunch of exciting and fun projects.

I even coded a few of the projects myself, and built on them to make them even better (or for my own uses)!

I highly recommend reading this book if you are interested in learning or getting more out of Python.

4.8/5
Profile Image for Aileen.
188 reviews7 followers
January 25, 2018
I wanted to like the book, but upon reviewing the code, it just seemed like it would be buggy and sloppy. Good idea. Hard pass.
1 review
June 28, 2019
I think that this is a great book for coding and learning new things. I would recommend this to anyone who likes the Python coding language.
Profile Image for Julio Biason.
199 reviews28 followers
October 15, 2016
When I start to not get a book, one thing I ask myself is: Am I the target audience for this book? 'Cause, you know, I may need to reflect if the book is actually good for beginners instead of people who already know the topic.

And here is the problem with this book: it does a bad job finding its target.

The reason is simple: the code is full of violations of PEP8, something Python beginners should not be exposed to and something expert developers get pissed.

Now, there is nothing wrong with your weekend projects to not follow standards -- that's perfectly acceptable. But when you have your code published in a book, you must, at least, follow the general guidelines that the community follows.

But let's throw this out of the window: is the book "good"? The answer is mostly "well...". It's not bad, but it isn't really interesting. It is merely ok.
Profile Image for WKofAngmar.
28 reviews10 followers
March 13, 2017
This book includes the best projects for a programming nerd like me.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews

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