gmane.comp.python.general

W. eWatson | 29 Aug 00:04

Python in a Nutshell -- Book vs Web

I read an Amazon of Python in a Nutshell. The first edition is supposedly 
much like the web site. What web site? The second edition apparently adds 
more to the book than the web site.
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Matimus | 29 Aug 00:54

Re: Python in a Nutshell -- Book vs Web

On Aug 28, 3:05 pm, "W. eWatson" <notval...@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> I read an Amazon of Python in a Nutshell. The first edition is supposedly
> much like the web site. What web site? The second edition apparently adds
> more to the book than the web site.

O'Reilly seems to just read all of the available documentation and
regurgitate it in book form. The "in a nutshell" series being the
worst offender. Most of "Python in a Nutshell" tells you the same
information that you can find at http://docs.python.org, which is
probably "the web site" being referenced.

Matt
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Cameron Laird | 29 Aug 01:58

Re: Python in a Nutshell -- Book vs Web

In article <b2f0ce20-418f-470a-a9e0-ec0d49da3d0c <at> a8g2000prf.googlegroups.com>,
Matimus  <mccredie <at> gmail.com> wrote:
>On Aug 28, 3:05 pm, "W. eWatson" <notval...@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>> I read an Amazon of Python in a Nutshell. The first edition is supposedly
>> much like the web site. What web site? The second edition apparently adds
>> more to the book than the web site.
>
>O'Reilly seems to just read all of the available documentation and
>regurgitate it in book form. The "in a nutshell" series being the
>worst offender. Most of "Python in a Nutshell" tells you the same
>information that you can find at http://docs.python.org, which is
>probably "the web site" being referenced.
>
>Matt

No.  No, to an almost libelous extent.  

As <URL: http://www.unixreview.com/documents/s=7822/ur0303j/ >
hints, the first edition of *PIAN* included abundant material
that was found nowhere else.  Senior Tcl developers recognized
*PIAN*'s unique values to such an extent that they snapped up
the second edition quickly when it became available.  It's
simply mistaken to characterize *PIAN* as merely a regurgitation
of the available documentation; in fact, while hewing to the
style of its series, it's among the most *original* and well-
crafted of books on Python.

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Benjamin Kaplan | 29 Aug 05:09

Re: Python in a Nutshell -- Book vs Web

On Thu, Aug 28, 2008 at 7:58 PM, Cameron Laird <claird <at> lairds.us> wrote:

In article <b2f0ce20-418f-470a-a9e0-ec0d49da3d0c <at> a8g2000prf.googlegroups.com>,

Matimus <mccredie <at> gmail.com> wrote:
>On Aug 28, 3:05 pm, "W. eWatson" <notval... <at> sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>> I read an Amazon of Python in a Nutshell. The first edition is supposedly
>> much like the web site. What web site? The second edition apparently adds
>> more to the book than the web site.
>
>O'Reilly seems to just read all of the available documentation and
>regurgitate it in book form. The "in a nutshell" series being the
>worst offender. Most of "Python in a Nutshell" tells you the same
>information that you can find at http://docs.python.org, which is
>probably "the web site" being referenced.
>
>Matt

No. No, to an almost libelous extent.

As <URL: http://www.unixreview.com/documents/s=7822/ur0303j/ >
hints, the first edition of *PIAN* included abundant material
that was found nowhere else. Senior Tcl developers recognized
*PIAN*'s unique values to such an extent that they snapped up
the second edition quickly when it became available. It's
simply mistaken to characterize *PIAN* as merely a regurgitation
of the available documentation; in fact, while hewing to the
style of its series, it's among the most *original* and well-
crafted of books on Python.

--

Pointing to an article that you wrote doesn't really prove your point. That being said, a quick google search finds plenty of reviews that agree with you. The most common criticism I saw was that the book is not suitable for beginners.

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Fredrik Lundh | 29 Aug 07:30

Re: Python in a Nutshell -- Book vs Web

Cameron Laird wrote:

> No.  No, to an almost libelous extent.  

No matter what you write about, there's always a certain subcategory of 
potential readers who insist that collection, editing, filtering, 
structuring, clarification, and the author's real-life experience of the 
topic he's writing about has no value at all.  My guess is that they 
don't value their own time very highly.

</F>

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