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BOOKS<br />
Review<br />
THE HITCHHIKER’S<br />
GUIDE TO PYTHON<br />
Authors: Kenneth Reitz<br />
& Tanya Schlusser<br />
Publisher: O’Reilly<br />
Price: £17.99<br />
ISBN: 978-1491933176<br />
magpi.cc/2gFXdsS<br />
“Python is big. Really<br />
big” – yes, there are<br />
plenty of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the<br />
Galaxy references here, a change<br />
at least from the obligatory Monty<br />
Python quotes in other Python<br />
works. Whimsy aside, this is a<br />
useful guide to immersing yourself<br />
in all things Pythonic, taking the<br />
confident beginner or intermediate<br />
programmer on a journey<br />
through the Python programmer’s<br />
ecosystem, everything from good<br />
code writing, to reading and learning<br />
form other programmers.<br />
The long chapter on “reading<br />
great code” is particularly useful<br />
for those looking to step up from<br />
beginner status, but we start<br />
C++ IN 24 HOURS<br />
SAMS TEACH YOURSELF<br />
Authors: Rogers Cadenhead<br />
& Jesse Liberty<br />
Publisher: SAMS<br />
Price: £21.99<br />
ISBN: 978-0672337468<br />
magpi.cc/2gFZFzH<br />
C++ is full of danger for<br />
the unwary, as it doesn’t<br />
provide the protections of higherlevel<br />
languages like Java and Python,<br />
allowing you to shoot yourself in<br />
the foot, or even remove your leg.<br />
Nevertheless, much development<br />
on the range of interesting and<br />
low-cost boards available to makers<br />
needs C or C++ (or a subset thereof),<br />
and newbies still find themselves<br />
wanting to learn C++ to tackle<br />
embedded projects. It also remains<br />
fairly essential in gaming engines<br />
and other tasks where performance<br />
is critical.<br />
SAMS’ popular ‘… in 24 hours’<br />
series break down complex<br />
with a look at the programmer’s<br />
environment, from Python version<br />
and implementation, through<br />
virtualenv and its alternatives,<br />
to the ever expanding choice<br />
of text editors and IDEs –<br />
where some may disagree with<br />
the authors’ preference for<br />
proprietary choices.<br />
The final section, covering<br />
libraries, features several<br />
chapters, with coverage<br />
of those for user interaction,<br />
code management, interfaces,<br />
data manipulation, and data<br />
persistence. Along the way this<br />
takes in everything from Jupyter<br />
Notebooks, through Continuous<br />
Integration, to the little known (but<br />
passionately advocated) Pyramid<br />
web framework. For anyone lacking<br />
a coding mentor, and/or a group<br />
of experienced Python using coworkers,<br />
this is a very special sort of<br />
‘missing manual’. Recommended.<br />
Score<br />
learning subjects into hour-long<br />
lessons to give time for digestion<br />
between sessions (you won’t<br />
profit from trying to<br />
work through the book<br />
in one caffeine-fuelled<br />
24-hour session!). The<br />
success of the format is<br />
dependent upon every<br />
lesson building steadily<br />
at a good pace, and in<br />
good order.<br />
No intro book can teach you<br />
everything about the sprawling<br />
C++ language. The authors make<br />
some sensible choices, and this is<br />
a good step up the first few rungs<br />
of a precarious ladder. However,<br />
some updates for new language<br />
features such lambda expressions<br />
don’t feel well integrated into<br />
the text. On balance, a good<br />
introduction, but you’ll need more<br />
resources to get further.<br />
Score<br />
ESSENTIAL READING:<br />
NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS<br />
Take the challenge: it’s time once again to<br />
resolve to learn something new.<br />
Resolution: Invent that Pi add-on!<br />
Resolution: Functional programming<br />
Functional Programming in JavaScript<br />
Author: Luis Atencio<br />
Publisher: Manning<br />
Price: £36.62<br />
ISBN: 978-1617292828<br />
magpi.cc/2gFPDPb<br />
Learn the benefits of the functional<br />
programming paradigm using a practical language<br />
that you know and love, and an authoritative guide.<br />
Resolution: Code a native mobile app<br />
Seven Mobile Apps in Seven Weeks<br />
Author: Tony Hillerson<br />
Publisher: Pragmatic<br />
Price: £28.50<br />
ISBN: 978-1680501483<br />
magpi.cc/2gFYyjz<br />
Get to grips with building mobile apps for<br />
all devices with Pragmatic’s excellent and<br />
practical ‘Seven Weeks…’ series.<br />
Resolution: Learn to play Go!<br />
Go / Wei Qi / Baduk<br />
Author: British Go Association<br />
Publisher: Many online resources<br />
Price: Free – download GNUGo<br />
ISBN: N/A<br />
magpi.cc/2gFZ29o<br />
Learn the 5,5oo-year-old strategy game<br />
that’s taxed the finest AI researchers’<br />
minds. Play online or join a club.<br />
Resolution: Debug some software!<br />
Effective Debugging<br />
Author: Diomidis Spinellis<br />
Publisher: Addison Wesley<br />
Price: £24.99<br />
ISBN: 978-0134394794<br />
magpi.cc/2gFVUdF<br />
Bugs are everywhere; learn the advanced<br />
methods, strategies, techniques, tools, and<br />
tactics to squash even the most persistent.<br />
Resolution: Learn to think logically!<br />
Logic as a Tool<br />
Author: Valentin Goranko<br />
Publisher: Wiley<br />
Price: £45.00<br />
ISBN: N/A<br />
magpi.cc/2h8d8kB<br />
Classical logic is hard but rewarding –<br />
helping with clarity in programming, business<br />
decisions, and whatever life throws at you.<br />
raspberrypi.org/magpi January 2017 85
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