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The Hitchhiker's Guide to Python: Best Practices for Development 1st Edition

by Kenneth Reitz (Author), Tanya Schlusser (Author)
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The Hitchhiker's Guide to Python takes the journeyman Pythonista to true expertise. More than any other language, Python was created with the philosophy of simplicity and parsimony. Now 25 years old, Python has become the primary or secondary language (after SQL) for many business users. With popularity comes diversity—and possibly dilution.

This guide, collaboratively written by over a hundred members of the Python community, describes best practices currently used by package and application developers. Unlike other books for this audience, The Hitchhiker’s Guide is light on reusable code and heavier on design philosophy, directing the reader to excellent sources that already exist.

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  1. ISBN-10
    1491933178
  2. ISBN-13
    978-1491933176
  3. Edition
    1st
  4. Publication date
    October 4, 2016
  5. Language
    English
  6. Dimensions
    7 x 0.7 x 9.19 inches
  7. Print length
    338 pages
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Kenneth Reitz is the product owner of Python at Heroku and a member of the Python Software Foundation. Kenneth focuses on software development, photography, and music production. He is well known for his many open source projects, specifically Requests: HTTP for Humans

Tanya Schlusser is currently an independent consultant who uses data to drive strategic decisions, with over two decades of experience in a half dozen languages. She is an active member of the Chicago Python User’s Group, Chicago’s PyLadies, and has delivered over 1000 hours of data science training to students and industry analysts.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ O'Reilly Media; 1st edition (October 4, 2016)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 338 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1491933178
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1491933176
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.19 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7 x 0.7 x 9.19 inches

About the author

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Kenneth Reitz

Kenneth Reitz

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Kenneth Reitz is a well-known software engineer, international keynote speaker, open source advocate, street photographer, and electronic music producer.

He is the product owner of Python at Heroku and a Board Member at the Python Software Foundation. He is well-known for his many open source software projects, specifically Requests: HTTP for Humans.

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4.4 out of 5 stars
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Dr. Howard B. Bandy
    5.0 out of 5 stars After Hello World
    Reviewed in the United States on December 8, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    There must be a thousand books, tutorials, and videos intended to teach the Python language. Most begin with a simple 'Hello World' program and progress through explanations of the Python language.
    As you learn enough to begin to use Python in your own applications, you must choose your own development environment. Authors Reitz and Schlusser identify components and discuss choices.
    Topics covered include choosing a language version, installing Python, choosing an editor or IDE, structuring your project, documentation tools, packaging and publishing the code. Coverage of the alternatives is broad and deep enough to allow comparisons. Capabilities and limitations are clearly identified.
    Whether your use will be scientific computing, web scraping, machine learning, or business applications, this book will help you choose and install an appropriate development environment comprised of compatible components.
    4 people found this helpful
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  • Tommaso Toffoli
    5.0 out of 5 stars especially things I didn't even know I didn't know---and found very useful to know
    Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    This is an outstanding book. It doesn't try to teach you Python---it assumes you're already familiar with it---but puts together a lot of information on how, when, and where to use Python, with what complementary tools, in what different contexts. Running efficiency, coding efficiency, portability, interfacing to other programs. Choices of editor and/or Integrating Development Environment. Platform-dependent issues. Debugging. Packaging and distributing. Documenting. You name it.
    I learned a lot of things, especially things I didn't even know I didn't know---and found very useful to know.
    There are excellent links to all the resources mentioned.
    If you like to write programs that go out into the world and present themselves in a professional way BECAUSE they are professonally conceived and implemented, you'll want to have this book.
    34 people found this helpful
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  • arctodus
    4.0 out of 5 stars Overall I recommend it
    Reviewed in the United States on February 13, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    I bought this hoping it would be a quick desktop reference. I've found it useful for looking up all those little details and other things that you almost remember but use infrequently. In addition it's a decent catalog of best practices for making code more "pythonic".

    My only complaint is that some of the information is a bit dated, and the book could use a refresh. Don't know if another edition is in the works, but if it is that would be the one to get.
    5 people found this helpful
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  • Sinjin
    3.0 out of 5 stars Lot's of advanced topics cobbled together
    Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    This book is for more advanced users than I expected, having seen excerpts on various websites. That's not necessarily a bad thing, just be warned that anyone in the beginner category will find much of it tough sledding. It's also written by multiple people. Some are good teachers and some are not, giving the book an uneven, schizophrenic feel. Overall, it's like I printed out several day's worth of successful and unsuccessful Python searches and bound then together. I regret the purchase. I should know better than to pick up hitchhikers!
    5 people found this helpful
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  • Russell
    5.0 out of 5 stars Not the typical tutorial book
    Reviewed in the United States on July 24, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    This book gives a lot of insights on what's outside the common Python tutorial books, is pretty straightforward. I recommend it both to new learners and already learners, but if you're new to python support yourself with tutorials on the language itself
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  • MaxPSI
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great intro for experienced programmers
    Reviewed in the United States on July 11, 2018
    Verified Purchase
    I've used a lot of different languages over the years. This book was sort of perfect for me. It's not about how to program, it's about Python as a language and the things that you ought to know about it.
    9 people found this helpful
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  • A. Griffith
    5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic introduction
    Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    I am coming at this from a DevOps/Release Engineering perspective. The author clearly laid out the best practices in structure and full development cycle arc.
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  • nicorellius
    4.0 out of 5 stars Cool book, I'd recommernd it
    Reviewed in the United States on December 9, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    Enjoying this book so far. I'm a web programmer/developer that uses Python as my back-end programming language, and this book is right up my alley. Covers lots of cool topics. The only real issue is that in surveying topics, you lose depth.
    4 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • kunthika n
    5.0 out of 5 stars Worth the price
    Reviewed in Germany on February 27, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    Very good and very useful book. If you are a student, this one worth it.
    Report
  • Christophe PERE
    5.0 out of 5 stars Mise à niveau
    Reviewed in France on May 6, 2018
    Verified Purchase
    J'ai pu trouver dans ce livre une bonne mise à niveau dans la pratique de python. N'étant pas développeur il me manquait certaines règles d'algorithmie pythonesque dispensées par ce livre. Je le recommande vivement.
    Report
  • David Gloyn-cox
    5.0 out of 5 stars Pythonesque or Python esquire
    Reviewed in Canada on September 21, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    A good breakdown of pythonesque coding styles, and a good read.
    Report
  • shanesully
    5.0 out of 5 stars Brief words from a fellow developer
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 31, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    This guide is a wonderful, tastefully pragmatic guide to getting things done with Python. It has proven invaluable in my journey with the language, both personally and professionally. It is a approachable and useful to developers at any level, and I never hesitate to recommend it to my friends and coworkers.

    I'm a fan of Kenneth and his work, be it his photography, writings, or software. I have used Requests in production, and have followed his blog for many years. Forever insightful and helpful, it is great to finally have the guide on my Kindle for quick reference!
    Report
  • Kiran
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
    Reviewed in India on November 7, 2018
    Verified Purchase
    Nice book
    Report