Treading on Python Volume 2: Intermediate Python

I have been skipping around in the book and read the introduction about decorators, and it is simply not correct. First, the author quotes Wikipedia, where it is correctly stated that a decorator is a design pattern that allows behavior to be added to an existing object dynamically. However, the author then states that in Python, a decorator is code that can alter a callable. The author concludes that closures, which were discussed in the previous chapter, enable decorators, which is incorrect as decorators can be implemented without closures.Furthermore, the author provides an example that demonstrates decorators without the usage of closures. The example clearly shows decorators enhancing the behavior of a callable, rather than renovating it as implied. The author also refers to the decorator's wrapper function as a closure, which is inaccurate.I purchased this book with the intention of thoroughly learning about closures and decorators, but at this point, ChatGPT has taught me more about their concepts and distinctions than this book's author.

This is a gem of a book. I have read over a dozen Python books and this remains my favorite. Once you've learned the basics of Python, this book will teach you the more advanced aspects of the language that make it such a great language. The book is written very clearly, with excellent, concise code examples. The sections of decorators is the best I've read, and although only 3 pages long, the section on closures is worth the price of the book alone (when you find a case where you really need a closure you'll understand what I mean!).

In the end, I have learned a lot from the Treading series but, it came with much more work and took more time than I expected for a book of this size. As someone new to many of the concepts of Python, the Treading series often left me needing to fill in the gaps from other resources. My guess is that this would be a great series for a programmer fluent in Java or C++ but, if your background is in more basic scripting languages such as JavaScript, you may want a different book. On the positive side, I felt the order of the chapters and the topic choices were great for getting started.Finally, once you do get through some basic Python learning, I would highly recommend Python 3 Object Oriented Programming. It was very clear and a great read. Good luck on your journey!

I teach Python, and I program, and I don't do it for free. No man but ablockhead ever wrote but for money, wrote Dr. Johnson, and perhaps heput his point a little strongly. I no longer review books for free. Matt doesgood work, and it's perhaps a shame that he doesn't spend more time onthe development of clever problems: one short problem can be worth achapter of explanation, and twelve assignments with six solutions can easily beworth more than the usual eloquent book, however well-written.Alas.

While the information is fairly solid, the depth of the topics covered is about as shallow as the kiddy pool. However if you are looking for basically a "desk reference" which provides some helpful reminders on intermediate topics, then this can be pretty useful.