About Learning Python

[Latest edition]

The book Learning Python—the classic language-foundations tutorial—has been published in five editions. Each edition has incorporated changes in Python itself, the Python training classes that this book is based upon, and common practice in the Python world. This site hosts support pages for each edition. Please select the relevant link in the first column of the table below:

Edition  Published   Python   Pages 
Learning Python, 5th Edition Jun-2013 3.3+2.7 1640
Learning Python, 4th Edition Sep-2009 3.0+2.6 1210
Learning Python, 3rd Edition Oct-2007 2.5 750
Learning Python, 2nd Edition Dec-2003 2.3 620
Learning Python, 1st Edition Apr-1999 1.5 385

Book Scope

This book is an in-depth introduction to both the 3.X and 2.X versions of the core Python language, appropriate for all Python learners in all Python domains. Though readers' goals are diverse, this text is also meant to serve as the first in a 2-book set:

In addition, the book Python Pocket Reference serves as a reference-only companion to both these books, providing quick access to supplemental details when you need them.

It's also important to note that this is not a release-specific book. Because it stresses core Python concepts, it applies to all Python versions in common use, not just those it was updated to be current with at publication and listed in the table above. Given the long tenure of this foundational text, its extensive coverage of language and programming fundamentals should also continue to apply to Pythons in years to come. For more on this book's scope, see also these content pointers.



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