What do you think?
Rate this book
Serious Python: Black-Belt Advice on Deployment, Scalability, Testing, and More
An indispensable collection of practical tips and real-world advice for tackling common Python problems and taking your code to the next level. Features interviews with high-profile Python developers who share their tips, tricks, best practices, and real-world advice gleaned from years of experience.
Sharpen your Python skills as you dive deep into the Python programming language with Serious Python. You'll cover a range of advanced topics like multithreading and memorization, get advice from experts on things like designing APIs and dealing with databases, and learn Python internals to help you gain a deeper understanding of the language itself. Written for developers and experienced programmers, Serious Python brings together over 15 years of Python experience to teach you how to avoid common mistakes, write code more efficiently, and build better programs in less time.
As you make your way through the book's extensive tutorials, you'll learn how to start a project and tackle topics like versioning, layouts, coding style, and automated checks. You'll learn how to package your software for distribution, optimize performance, use the right data structures, define functions efficiently, pick the right libraries, build future-proof programs, and optimize your programs down to the bytecode. You'll also learn how to:
- Make and use effective decorators and methods, including abstract, static, and class methods
- Employ Python for functional programming using generators, pure functions, and functional functions
- Extend flake8 to work with the abstract syntax tree (AST) to introduce more sophisticated automatic checks into your programs
- Apply dynamic performance analysis to identify bottlenecks in your code
- Work with relational databases and effectively manage and stream data with PostgreSQL
If you've been looking for a way to take your Python skills from good to great, Serious Python will help you get there. Learn from the experts and get seriously good at Python with Serious Python!
Sharpen your Python skills as you dive deep into the Python programming language with Serious Python. You'll cover a range of advanced topics like multithreading and memorization, get advice from experts on things like designing APIs and dealing with databases, and learn Python internals to help you gain a deeper understanding of the language itself. Written for developers and experienced programmers, Serious Python brings together over 15 years of Python experience to teach you how to avoid common mistakes, write code more efficiently, and build better programs in less time.
As you make your way through the book's extensive tutorials, you'll learn how to start a project and tackle topics like versioning, layouts, coding style, and automated checks. You'll learn how to package your software for distribution, optimize performance, use the right data structures, define functions efficiently, pick the right libraries, build future-proof programs, and optimize your programs down to the bytecode. You'll also learn how to:
- Make and use effective decorators and methods, including abstract, static, and class methods
- Employ Python for functional programming using generators, pure functions, and functional functions
- Extend flake8 to work with the abstract syntax tree (AST) to introduce more sophisticated automatic checks into your programs
- Apply dynamic performance analysis to identify bottlenecks in your code
- Work with relational databases and effectively manage and stream data with PostgreSQL
If you've been looking for a way to take your Python skills from good to great, Serious Python will help you get there. Learn from the experts and get seriously good at Python with Serious Python!
240 pages, ebook
First published December 1, 2018
32 people are currently reading
409 people want to read
About the author
Julien Danjou
5 books14 followersA Free Software hacker since 1999. He wears multiple hats in the Free and Open Source community, among them: Debian developer, Freedesktop contributor, GNU Emacs committer, the awesome window manager creator, Project Technical Leader for OpenStack Telemetry and contributor to Python.
For the last few years, he has been hacking using Python a lot, especially when working on OpenStack, a cloud-computing platform. During that time, He had the chance to work with many fabulous Python hackers, and learned a lot from them and the surrounding community.
For the last few years, he has been hacking using Python a lot, especially when working on OpenStack, a cloud-computing platform. During that time, He had the chance to work with many fabulous Python hackers, and learned a lot from them and the surrounding community.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
February 25, 2020
This is an AWESOME book that has completely transformed the way I code in Python. That might sound like the opening to a parody review, but I'm being sincere. One of the best things about Python is that it has a low barrier to entry and it's easy to get started programming. One of the worst things about Python is that it has a low barrier to entry and it's easy to get started programming. I've been going through the past 15ish years with just a surface-level understanding of my favorite programming language.
On my biggest, most used (by others) Python program, I've gone from code to looks like this (https://github.com/djotaku/ELDonation...) to a package that's published on PyPi (https://pypi.org/project/eldonationtr...) and auto-generated documentation(https://eldonationtracker.readthedocs...), pulling from my Python docstrings (https://eldonationtracker.readthedocs...) with even more ways I'm going to fix/optimize my code and make it more Pythonic. I think this is the best book I've read on Python programming since the Mark Pilgrim book that got me into Python that decade and a half ago.
Seriously, if you are self-taught on Python and want to go to the next level, you NEED to read this book.
On my biggest, most used (by others) Python program, I've gone from code to looks like this (https://github.com/djotaku/ELDonation...) to a package that's published on PyPi (https://pypi.org/project/eldonationtr...) and auto-generated documentation(https://eldonationtracker.readthedocs...), pulling from my Python docstrings (https://eldonationtracker.readthedocs...) with even more ways I'm going to fix/optimize my code and make it more Pythonic. I think this is the best book I've read on Python programming since the Mark Pilgrim book that got me into Python that decade and a half ago.
Seriously, if you are self-taught on Python and want to go to the next level, you NEED to read this book.
January 28, 2020
I don't think I'm the intended audience for this book. I'm a hobbyist who's done some simple programming in the past and is new to Python. I've gotten through a couple of beginner books that start with 'Hello world!', and picked this up because I was excitedly running around Python tutorials and Stack Overflow like Jack Skellington, going "Ooh, what's this? What's this?" I was looking for a book that would answer what's that.
This seems more targeted towards professional, or at least experienced, programmers who are new to Python but not new to the concepts. Some chapters were just plain over my head.
That said, I still got a lot of good out of it. The chapter on unit testing was super useful and the advice to wrap your own API around external libraries was a huge help on a personal project.
This seems more targeted towards professional, or at least experienced, programmers who are new to Python but not new to the concepts. Some chapters were just plain over my head.
That said, I still got a lot of good out of it. The chapter on unit testing was super useful and the advice to wrap your own API around external libraries was a huge help on a personal project.
May 3, 2019
Really enjoy the content of this book. Despite not really deep, the contents show some critical concepts that you'll use often day-to-day basis. This book introduce various tools and best practices to solve specific problems (e.g: Unit testing, Profiling, Multithread vs Multiprocess, Documentation).
December 31, 2018
Great book!!! I found something new in each chapter. Examples are up to the point. I know for sure that you will learn a lot from reading this book.
December 26, 2023
This is a well-written book for Python developers at the intermediate level. It covers a selection of topics dealing with details about Python's internals, tips about writing better Python code, suggestions on how to get the most out of the Python standard library and the description of some useful external tools as well.
Even tough the book has some years, most of the material covered is still relevant today.
As the included topics are selected according to the author's personal choices, a developer might find some chapters more interesting than others. However enough good information has been packed, that the Python developer, who wants to bring its knowledge to the next level, will find the book useful.
A plus is the presence of interviews to experienced Python developers at the end of selected chapters.
8/10
Even tough the book has some years, most of the material covered is still relevant today.
As the included topics are selected according to the author's personal choices, a developer might find some chapters more interesting than others. However enough good information has been packed, that the Python developer, who wants to bring its knowledge to the next level, will find the book useful.
A plus is the presence of interviews to experienced Python developers at the end of selected chapters.
8/10
January 23, 2023
An interesting book on some advanced features of Python and its ecosystem. It is short and easily comprehensible. The code examples short and up to the point, not even a single line longer than they should be. I didn't find all the chapters equally interesting, but this might depend on the use-cases someone has with the language.
The only problem of the book: it is a bit old (the Python ecosystem changes fast), and this can be seen by the extensive references of Python 2 and Python 3 migrations. I don't think that these issues are relevant anymore.
The only problem of the book: it is a bit old (the Python ecosystem changes fast), and this can be seen by the extensive references of Python 2 and Python 3 migrations. I don't think that these issues are relevant anymore.
September 1, 2019
Initially, I borrowed this book from the library, but ended up purchasing it myself for the wealth of information on a variety of topics in Python. I decided to read it cover to cover but a lot of the topics weren't immediately applicable to problems I've encountered, so it was slow-going in some spots. Overall, it was well worth the read and I've already returned to some sections for reference while coding. I can see myself using this book for a long time.
June 9, 2021
It covers many aspects of Python, which may or may not apply directly to what you do. In my case, I can say I extracted pure gold from three chapters, which are pretty much what led me to read read it.
The other chapters were read even when I do not work directly with as many things, since I use Python for scripting, but nevertheless, I got so much value.
I really recommend it, since it provides many tips that I have not seen in other books so far.
The other chapters were read even when I do not work directly with as many things, since I use Python for scripting, but nevertheless, I got so much value.
I really recommend it, since it provides many tips that I have not seen in other books so far.
May 19, 2024
It was more or less a concise but very effective book for seasoned programmers. Doesn’t really matter if you are just starting with python (but you need to know at least one programming language fluently). This book pretty much throws light on serious topics indeed. Nicely written and well organized too.
December 25, 2019
A lot of useful ideas, but it feels kinda rushed. Sitll worth it, though.
June 7, 2020
Real good intermediate/advanced level Python book!
September 29, 2022
Let's Get Serious
This was an okay book on Python.
Some pretty fun examples throughout.
A lot of it I already know really well, but this book was very well organized.
3.8/5
This was an okay book on Python.
Some pretty fun examples throughout.
A lot of it I already know really well, but this book was very well organized.
3.8/5
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews