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Python Tricks: A Buffet of Awesome Python Features
by
“I don’t even feel like I’ve scratched the surface of what I can do with Python”
With Python Tricks: The Book you’ll discover Python’s best practices and the power of beautiful & Pythonic code with simple examples and a step-by-step narrative.
You'll get one step closer to mastering Python, so you can write beautiful and idiomatic code that comes to you naturally.
Learnin
...moreGet A Copy
Kindle Edition, 304 pages
Published
December 6th 2017
by Dan Bader (dbader.org)
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Start your review of Python Tricks: A Buffet of Awesome Python Features

The Pythonite way from a very savvy user.
🌹
"-": Python 2 vs 3 difs.
"+": Short and up-to-the point style
"+": Lots of cool ideas
"+": Practical implications not just 'oh yeah there's something that works somehow in P'
"+": Good explanations
"+": Many examples
🌹 ...more
🌹
"-": Python 2 vs 3 difs.
"+": Short and up-to-the point style
"+": Lots of cool ideas
"+": Practical implications not just 'oh yeah there's something that works somehow in P'
"+": Good explanations
"+": Many examples
🌹 ...more

A quick read to fill in any gaps in your python knowledge
I'm an advanced python user and have worked at several startups, Google, and Microsoft, but I still found several tips in here that were new to me, and many others that I only knew because I'd learned them from colleagues when I worked at Google. For instance, I would usually just define an __str__ method on my custom classes and be lazy and not implement __repr__. But the book points out that if you want be lazy, just define __repr__ alon ...more
I'm an advanced python user and have worked at several startups, Google, and Microsoft, but I still found several tips in here that were new to me, and many others that I only knew because I'd learned them from colleagues when I worked at Google. For instance, I would usually just define an __str__ method on my custom classes and be lazy and not implement __repr__. But the book points out that if you want be lazy, just define __repr__ alon ...more

Jan 07, 2019
Dimitrios Mistriotis
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
data-science
Wanted to check out this book so downloaded it. Most of the times I do this it ends up with me buying the actual book at the end so do not feel that guilty confessing this "habit". With "Python Tricks" was very early 100% sure that it would end up with a purchase which happened.
What I want from a coding book is always the same two things: (1) feel sad+happy while reading it: sad for parts of my codebase and happy that I am reading it, (2) Understand better patterns of the programming language an ...more
What I want from a coding book is always the same two things: (1) feel sad+happy while reading it: sad for parts of my codebase and happy that I am reading it, (2) Understand better patterns of the programming language an ...more

Useful
I have used python before but wanted to gain more advance knowledge. Fluent python is the Bible these days but it is too long (almost 800 pages). From my experience, you don’t need all language features to use a language affectively (think 80/20 rule). That is why this book was so appealing to me and it didn’t disappoint. If you want to save time and gain deeper insight into the python language, read this book.
I have used python before but wanted to gain more advance knowledge. Fluent python is the Bible these days but it is too long (almost 800 pages). From my experience, you don’t need all language features to use a language affectively (think 80/20 rule). That is why this book was so appealing to me and it didn’t disappoint. If you want to save time and gain deeper insight into the python language, read this book.

Here are my key take-aways from the book (page numbers refer to the epup version of the book, I had 157 pages in total with my "14 screen size):
-Asserts are used to catch BUGS/unrecoverable errors, not erroneous user input, and make code more maintainable and help developers. Assets will just be ignored under certain circumstances and may pose a security risk when being relied upon in production. Never use it for data validation. Use "if + raise" for validation. (p. 14)
-Use a comma after the las ...more
-Asserts are used to catch BUGS/unrecoverable errors, not erroneous user input, and make code more maintainable and help developers. Assets will just be ignored under certain circumstances and may pose a security risk when being relied upon in production. Never use it for data validation. Use "if + raise" for validation. (p. 14)
-Use a comma after the las ...more

A while ago, when I was still fairly new to Python, I stumbled upon the Dan Bader's "Real Python" newsletter. It was a very refreshing take on learning how to code. It gave a simple, yet insightful, tip each day. The approach and the substance were aimed at someone who is already familiar with the basics of Python and programming, but wanted to improve those skills in a non-formal and unsystematic way.
So after a while I decided to purchase Dan's "Python Tricks" book. The book is written with th ...more
So after a while I decided to purchase Dan's "Python Tricks" book. The book is written with th ...more

This was a great book to binge after attempting to read the wall-of-text that is Fluent Python. Python Tricks provides great insights into the language, while offering fun and digestible examples. Unfortunately, with the discrepancies between Python 2 and 3, it's not always the case that there's "one--and preferably only one--obvious way to do [things]"; however, Dan effectively provides the reader simple situational rules to follow in order to find the easiest/cleanest/most-Pythonic way of acco
...more

Book, which worth the time spent on it.
In general, this is a very good book for learning the Python programming language. There is either an experienced programmer or the only beginner is able to find something interesting and new for himself or strengthen his skills in the already known material and find out some features of the language.
The presentation of material here is great, so it reads lightly and you don't get tired of it, like of such books as Learn Python the Hard Way or Python Progr ...more
In general, this is a very good book for learning the Python programming language. There is either an experienced programmer or the only beginner is able to find something interesting and new for himself or strengthen his skills in the already known material and find out some features of the language.
The presentation of material here is great, so it reads lightly and you don't get tired of it, like of such books as Learn Python the Hard Way or Python Progr ...more

Love this book! Even for seasoned Python developer, you will be surprised how small, but exceptionally useful tricks that can help you to write Python code better.
Also, i found each chapter is fun to read in spite it is something i've already known before, because sometimes the contents radically change my paradigm when understanding the concept.
Last but not least, this can become one of the good reference book when you forget something about the Python concept (at least this is what i've done ...more
Also, i found each chapter is fun to read in spite it is something i've already known before, because sometimes the contents radically change my paradigm when understanding the concept.
Last but not least, this can become one of the good reference book when you forget something about the Python concept (at least this is what i've done ...more

Although the book is 300 pages, it's fairly short because of the big font. As the title says, there are a lot of tricks in this book. However, I already knew most of them from YouTube videos. Saying that, It's still a great book to have. The tone of the book is quite funny and keeps it interesting.
I have to say that this book is not for beginner. You should only pick this up once you are at least familiar with the language and all the basic objects (function, list, dictionary, set, string, ...) ...more
I have to say that this book is not for beginner. You should only pick this up once you are at least familiar with the language and all the basic objects (function, list, dictionary, set, string, ...) ...more

Good book. Concise and full and of helpful information, presented very simply. Doesn't get deep into the super-advanced language features (meta-programming, etc...). But provides very practical Python info that everyone can use on a daily basis in their programming.
...more

It's a good book written in a very friendly manner (maybe even too friendly - too much sugar can kill you), but I found it a little too shallow. It sweeps broadly, but has only <300 pages, so there's no place (and no intention) to go deeper. Again, maybe it is a good thing - that way it's more geared towards beginners who won't be too intimidated with the content. At least most of times, because it has it's not entirely balanced difficulty spikes (data structures section, min-heap, I'm looking a
...more

This Python recipe targets neither the beginners nor the advanced users. Rather it is aimed towards people who have already mastered the syntax, using python for a while and want to take their skills to the next level. The author did an awesome job keeping it concise while touching a plethora of topics without making the whole thing boring!
Dive into the book if:
1. You are already familiar with basic python data structures (list, stack, set, dictionary, mutable and immutable objects).
2. You are c ...more
Dive into the book if:
1. You are already familiar with basic python data structures (list, stack, set, dictionary, mutable and immutable objects).
2. You are c ...more

If you are a beginner-to-intermediate Python enthusiast who is going at it alone, without any outside support whatsoever, as long as you have a basic understanding of how Python works and have already attempted a few projects on your own, this book is truly a gem and what you should be reading next. In a very condensed form, it manages to point out a whole lot of things you may have been doing wrong, or in a suboptimal way. In essence, it's like having a very good friend standing behind you and
...more

Took me a little bit over a year to read it... Which was good, if you try to read a programming book "in one session" you will forget what you read in the beginning.
I took my time, thought about each chapter and tried to apply it as soon as I read it - or at least think where I could apply it. Also, I'm not new to Python, so there were a lot of "tricks" I already know and use - but for those cases, I used the examples to verify that I really know it and it is always good to read someone else exp ...more
I took my time, thought about each chapter and tried to apply it as soon as I read it - or at least think where I could apply it. Also, I'm not new to Python, so there were a lot of "tricks" I already know and use - but for those cases, I used the examples to verify that I really know it and it is always good to read someone else exp ...more

Good book for intermediate Python developers
It is written in a very understandable but at the same time concise style. While it assumes the reader already has a decent understanding of programming in general and skips the basics, it gets pretty detailed in medium to advanced Python syntax, patterns and useful libraries; which makes it perfect for a developer experienced in another language, but relatively new to Python. If you really want to go beyond the basics, without having to swallow the en ...more
It is written in a very understandable but at the same time concise style. While it assumes the reader already has a decent understanding of programming in general and skips the basics, it gets pretty detailed in medium to advanced Python syntax, patterns and useful libraries; which makes it perfect for a developer experienced in another language, but relatively new to Python. If you really want to go beyond the basics, without having to swallow the en ...more

Excellent! This is not just a book about Python. It helps to write better code, that's for granted! There are real examples of how you should be using the language and what you should try to avoid. I even implemented 2 or 3 tricks in my own work! And explanations will be easy to understand for newcomers but at the same time it's not boring for someone who works with python for some time. And the best part - you can use it as go-to table book with hints! Because every chapter is independent from
...more

Asides how technically sound this book is, it’s also extremely well written. I’m so jealous of the author’s ability to make some pretty complex things easy. I’ve been developing in python for a year now and I’m glad I read this book now as opposed to at the beginning of my python journey. The author also makes a case for it not being a “beginner” beginner book, and I get it, the book just flows when you know a little more than the basics, but it’s also very helpful if you’re a beginner. I defini
...more

I write a lot of Python code as a security engineer, and normally all I care about is whether or not the code works the way it was intended to, and that there are no bugs. I don't focus on code structure and clarity the way software engineers do. However after reading this book, and learning the inner workings and new features of Python, I found my self following best practices and even applying some of the tricks I learned in the book to write cleaner and less code than I used to. Overall a gre
...more

I picked this up, or rather, was given this, as part of a Humble Bundle. I enjoy Dan's blog, and figured his writing in this book would be on the same level. The book is great, but definitely geared towards a more beginner to intermediate level. I can only read so many articles on tuple unpacking, list comprehensions, and operator overloading. If you are looking for an approachable entry point into writing more pythonic code, this is your book. Otherwise, the newly revised Effective Python or Fl
...more

Simply love it!
This is not a reference book in which you you can find all the nitty-gritty details about a method, module... Buy and read this book if you want to know leverages and tricks in Python that the author has simply and beautifully laid out.
This book, again, should not be a book for those who has not known Python yet. There must be some sufficient exposure to the language to get all the benefits that it provides.
In general, it is a great book to have
This is not a reference book in which you you can find all the nitty-gritty details about a method, module... Buy and read this book if you want to know leverages and tricks in Python that the author has simply and beautifully laid out.
This book, again, should not be a book for those who has not known Python yet. There must be some sufficient exposure to the language to get all the benefits that it provides.
In general, it is a great book to have

This is an interesting book about Python, but not the usual handbook or cookbook style. If you already know the basics and want to discover new details about this programming language, or if you want to check if you really have a solid grasp on it, this book will give you some insightful, bite-size, tips and tricks.
Full review: https://no-title.victordomingos.com/a... ...more
Full review: https://no-title.victordomingos.com/a... ...more

Good reference book
Concrete knowledge and tricks about Python. Not as deep as Fluent Python but more practical and accessible. I like some of the examples which explained some complex concept well. To be honest, most of the content can be found on real python website and also his personal website.thus probably not worthwhile to pay for it. However I still bought this to show my support.
Concrete knowledge and tricks about Python. Not as deep as Fluent Python but more practical and accessible. I like some of the examples which explained some complex concept well. To be honest, most of the content can be found on real python website and also his personal website.thus probably not worthwhile to pay for it. However I still bought this to show my support.

Every Emerging Python Developers should read.
Good Tricks Buffet for Everyday Python Programming, the Pythonist Way! Very helpful and recommended for beginners and intermediate level. Need more concrete example though than explaining the tricks with very simple examples. Recommended for all python programmers.
Good Tricks Buffet for Everyday Python Programming, the Pythonist Way! Very helpful and recommended for beginners and intermediate level. Need more concrete example though than explaining the tricks with very simple examples. Recommended for all python programmers.

A good quick read to understand some of the cool features of Python. Great for some one who picked up python through online videos or articles, as this presents a fairly comprehensive view of the capabilities of Python in theoretical but an easy to understand. This book can also become a stepping stone to perhaps more in depth books on python out there.
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“Assertions are meant to be internal self-checks for your program. They work by declaring some conditions as impossible in your code. If one of these conditions doesn’t hold, that means there’s a bug in the program.”
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“If your format strings are user-supplied, use Template Strings to avoid security issues. Otherwise, use Literal String Interpolation if you’re on Python 3.6+, and “New Style” String Formatting if you’re not.”
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