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From: dn <PythonList@DancesWithMice.info>
Newsgroups: comp.lang.python
Subject: Re: Book recommendation? For getting up to date
Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2025 08:59:11 +1300
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On 17/02/25 01:50, Jan Erik Moström via Python-list wrote:
> I'm looking for a book that would teach me the lastest and greatest parts of Python, does anyone have any recommendations?
> 
> I've looked at python.org and pythonbooks.org but I couldn't decide which one to get.
> 
> I used to be fairly good at Python, but I haven't done any serious programming in the last 10 years or so. So I would like something that got me up-to-date with the latest features.
> 
> I don't need anything that would teach me OOP, functional programming, etc (unless there is a new feature). In other words I'm looking for something that concentrates language specific changes that has happened the last 10 years or so.


When stop to think about it, this is quite a request:
don't give me what I do know,
do give me what I don't know!

That said, you are correct: the bulk of new publications seem to (still) 
aim at the Beginner end of the continuum (see later comments).


Over the period mentioned, Python has changed a great deal - Python 3 
(largely) replacing Python 2 was only the most-notable! Another 
explosion has been the sheer variety of application-domains where Python 
is happily applied: web, data science, machine learning, geo-spatial, 
natural language - and good, old, math/stats (and more...)

Accordingly, most books aim at 'getting started' (Learn?Master Python in 
the time it takes to eat an apple - hint: the apple is probably better 
value), or one specific domain, eg Python for Econometrics.


Books published in 2024 (which I may not have read from cover to cover - 
yet):

Effective Python: 125 Specific Ways to
Write Better Python, 3rd Edition
Brett Slatkin
Addison Wesley
- probably some good 'reminders' for you, to bring Python back-to-life 
in your mind, plus (some of) the updated information and more-advanced 
considerations requested


Hypermodern Python Tooling
Building Reliable Workflows for an Evolving Python Ecosystem
Claudio Jolowicz
O'Reilly
- per the title, majors on testing and projects rather than the language 
per-se (still haven't found git in-detail though - YMMV)


Powerful Python
Aaron Maxwell
O'Reilly
- starts with generators (which you likely haven't met before) and goes 
'up' from there (am still biting-off chunks of this one, rather than 
reading serially)


Given Python's rapid development (a new point-upgrade version released 
in October every year - many thanks to the 'Python Gods' who invest 
hard-work in such!), it's a tremendous challenge to write a book (also 
involving considerable time and effort) which will return value for more 
than a few years - particularly at the advanced levels!

An alternative-approach which may take your fancy, is online courses 
(many of which can be taken for $free). Their self-paced nature has the 
advantage of enabling the skipping-over of repetitive content (and the 
repeating of points which don't immediately 'sink in'). You will find 
many examples on Coursera* and edX*.

- on Coursera am sad to advise avoiding U.Mich courses - they tend to be 
re-worded Java (I think) content, don't follow PEP-008 and 'miss' Python 
idioms
- disclaimer: my work uses the edX platform (not Python)

-- 
Regards,
=dn