5 Python Books to Code With

There are a bunch of video tutorials out there. But what about some good books? These 5 Python books have in-depth explanations of a large variety of topics, from beginner to advanced, from Computer Science theory to practical coding projects. All of them use Python 3 for the coding snippets.

Let’s begin!

Python Crash Course: A Hands-On, Project-Based Introduction to Programming

This book starts from the basics, from Variables and Data Types to working with files and testing.

After a walkthrough for every aspect of Python, it’s time to do some projects! There is one for each branch of development, a gaming project using Pygame, a Web Application using Django, and a Data Visualization project using matplotlib and Pygal.

It’s available from the official publisher's website.

Think Python: How to Think Like a Computer Scientist

In this book, Allen B. Downey goes from basic topics like variables, functions, all the way down to more complex topics like inheritance, sets, and even algorithmic complexity! Every here and there you will work in “case studies”, a.k.a. projects to apply and fully understand the concepts of the book.

Like every Green Tea Press book, it is available for free!

Python for Everybody: Exploring Data in Python 3

Wrote by Charles Severance, who based himself on Think Python, the book presents introductory chapters similar to the ones at Think Python, but then moves on to concepts like XML, HTTP, JSON, and SQL.

The main difference in the introductory chapters is the data approach to exercises and examples, instead of the numeric approach that you’ll find in Think Python.

You can get it for free from its official website.

Classic Computer Science Problems in Python

With a Cracking the Coding Interview style, this book has some Data Structures theory and explanations of its implementations for solving classic Computer Science problems. It also has exercises at the end of each chapter so you can challenge yourself with variations of the problems explained.

Each chapter tackles different problems in which different Computer Science concepts are explained. It touches topics like recursion, BFS, Neural Networks, NP-hard problems, and so on.

It’s a book aimed for people with a basic background in mathematics (Calculus I) and some programming experience with Python 3.

This book is also available for free from the publisher’s website 😉

Data Structures and Algorithms in Python

The preface of this book is quite clear:

Data Structures and Algorithms in Python provides an introduction to data structures and algorithms, including their design, analysis, and implementation.

It covers many many topics on Computer Science: Data Structures like Trees, Stacks, Queues, Linked Lists, and topics like Recursion, Sorting Algorithms, Text Processing, Memory Management… and that explains it’s length, 748 pages!

It’s available from the official publisher's website.

So that’s our list! Have you read any of these? Let us know your thoughts on them in the comments! See ya!