dive into mark

‣ October 9, 2003 ‣

Aaaaugh! My book!

Dive Into Python 4.4 is out. This is a major release, with an entirely new chapter on installing Python. This marks a turning point, when my book becomes our book, which is the first in a series of heartbreaking steps towards it becoming somebody else’s book.

You see, my editor (who is a wonderful guy, and I do not fault him in the slightest for this decision) has insisted that we have a chapter on installing Python, because that’s what people expect in a book called Dive Into Python: From novice to pro. Oh yeah, we’re rebranding the book too. It’s no longer a free book for experienced programmers. Well, it’s still a free book, but we’re downplaying that part. We’re also downplaying the amount of experience you need to be able to dive into it. The preface — which previously, and quite snottily, stated that this book assumed a lot about you and that if you were new to programming and wanted to learn Python, you should probably learn it somewhere else — has been removed. We no longer assume a lot about you, apparently, beyond the ability to double-click and a willingness to blow $50 on a book you could download for free.

So anyway, the installation chapter is out of the way, barring feedback that I got everything wrong and ended up doing more harm than good and forgot somebody’s favorite distribution and didn’t cover Python for the AS/400 and suck. The next release will split up the longer chapters into 2, or sometimes 3, because my editor tells me that long chapters confuse some readers. Presumably (and this is just a wild guess) the same readers who need to be taught how to double-click an installer.

We will also be shuffling the order of chapters, which is probably a good thing in the long run. The book is going to be divided into three main parts: basics, web services, and advanced. Basics will be what used to be the first 3 chapters, which will actually be split into 5, plus the installation chapter. Web services will be the current XML processing chapter (split into 2), plus a bunch of new chapters I haven’t written yet. The third part will be the current chapters on unit testing and functional programming, and a new chapter on refactoring and design patterns.

My book, my book, my book… Aaaaugh! My book!

Boy, that didn’t take long at all.

Twenty comments here (latest comments)

Home is where the heart is. Apparently. (trackback)
Hey Mark–did you have to pay licensing fees on the wording for that “self advertisement”? ;-)

— Ken Walker
Are you going to start twitching every time you say “My Book” now?

‘My *GRKHT* My *GACKT* My *ENKL* BOOOOK!’

:-D

— kami
This is good emotional practice for your child growing up.

— Scott
I spoke to James on IRC as he was blogging his response, and he doesn’t really take any offense. It’s still a difficult transition, though. It’s been my book — and nobody else’s — for 3 years now (1.0 release was October 30, 2000). Now it’s a group effort.

— Mark
Oh yeah, for those who don’t know, the self-advertisement is not original, it’s from Michael Barrish.

http://oblivio.com/road/03051701.shtml

Michael told me that when I first linked to it, he got a paying gig out of it, so hopefully he doesn’t mind my borrowing it.

Searching Google for the exact phrase “hire me i know what i’m doing i am not a jerk” is also enlightening.

— Mark
When it comes out in paper will you be sending out occasional paper updates that people can glue in to their books manually to update them? And if so would this be free of charge?

— Sparticus
Sparticus:

no, i don’t think that would really be practical :)

— James Cox
Is there a shortage of Python books for novice programmers, more than there is a shortage of Python books for experienced programmers? (Maybe novices are a larger market, but from your use of “apparently” and “presumably”, maybe you and James should discuss that a little more thoroughly.)

— mpt
// Is there a shortage of Python books for novice programmers //

I would say so; can’t think of any printed books which teach Python to non-programmers, although ISTR there’s an online “How To Think Like A Computer Scientist” book with a Python version.

And programmers learning Python are in a bit of a dry spell until the new revision of “Learning Python” comes out. I usually point people at the Tutorial followed by Dive Into Python (the first is part of the standard distro; the second is also, handily, part of the ActiveState distro).

— James Kew
now you’re making me feel stupid for wanting to buy this book though it’s available online. i’m being put into the same category as people who can’t right click =[

you see, sometimes it’s nice to have a well-bound dead tree book on the shelf that you can pick up from time to time.

oh and http://ru.diveintopython.org/ is a terrible translation. the grammar is really bad and a few times words that are homonyms in english (free of charge and free of bondage) are not in russian, surprisingly enough. probably the result of translation software. i get the idea though, it’s just funny to read ;p

— vlad
I’m surprised that your section on Windows install, doesn’t include the win32-all packages. I’d think a novice programmer would really want the PythonWin IDE & other MS Windows niceties that it provides.

— crypie
Vlad, don’t feel stupid for wanting a printed edition. I’m aware that the markets are different and serve different needs. And I myself have bought printed copies of free books (DocBook TDG, for example) just to support the author.

— Mark
crypie, the ActivePython distribution includes win32all. I have a pending TODO item to talk to James about whether we want to mention installing it manually over IDLE. I agree it’s a kickass package for Windows development (I’ve used it extensively), but it sets up the expectation that we’re going to talk about it later in the book, which we’re not.

— Mark
I’d argue — as does Mark, with that “I recommend you try it” — that what a novice Windows Python programmer really wants is the ActivePython distro, which packages Python, win32all and more into one simple install.

— James Kew
Gah: the man himself beat me too it by a minute.

— James Kew
Mark – Good point. If you’re discussion is going to be IDE agnostic, then leaving win32all out makes sense. Once they become an “expert”, they’ll quickly find win32all and use it. BTW – nice work on the book.

— crypie
$.02

Definitely nice work. I’m all for paying $ for this.

Alas, that every book needs to start from turning on the computer. :-/

— Mad William Flint
// can�t think of any printed books which teach Python to non-programmers //

Learning to Program with Python[1] immediately came to mind, and also listed on the Introductory Books page[2] at python.org.

Which is greater, a click-through purchase referral amount or the amount an author gets from an individual sale?

[1] http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN%3D0201709384/102-8818019-2660924 , http://www.freenetpages.co.uk/hp/alan.gauld/
[2] http://www.python.org/cgi-bin/moinmoin/IntroductoryBooks

— Anonymous
Already being a developer, I’m sure my opinion is slanted– but really, I found the “book for experienced programmers” approach quite valuable.

I have a desire to understand a -lot-, and I don’t read that fast, and as a consequence I’m very picky about what I do read.

You might sell more books with the newbie approach, but then again, you might not. There aren’t -that- many programmer wanna-bes that will have heard of Python, and certainly there are alternative books taking a similar approach.

I believe that the strength of DiP is the humor and the concise but clear coverage.

My $40.00 votes for a complete book on the same tack as the original.

— Jeremy Dunck

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