the python language is great for coding software, building websites, and general server scripting. it’s an amazing language all around and is often the language of choice for developers.
Getting started with python doesn’t have to be a challenge, and if you use the right books, it can even be fun! That’s why I’ve curated this massive list of the best python books to help you go from novice to expert developer with ease.
You are reading: Best python books for intermediate
python crash course
In Python Crash Course by Eric Matthes you’ll find a thorough yet fast-paced introduction to the Python programming language. This book can work even for younger kids and high school students who want to pick up the basics of programming from scratch.
this covers very little theory and goes straight to the action. Most of the time this can be a challenge, but eric has a way of writing that just makes sense.
You will learn about the fundamentals and basic features of python, such as lists, classes, loops, and basic functions. this comes with a lot of exercises scattered in the middle and tons of examples you can follow.
The writing style is also quite simple, which makes this a brilliant option for complete beginners without any coding experience.
If you’re looking for a solid, uncomplicated introduction to this profound language, I have to recommend a copy of this book.
python programming: an introduction to computer science
Python Programming: An Introduction to Computer Science takes an ever deeper look at Python by explaining the language for beginners who want to actually understand programming.
The author of this book, John Zelle, doesn’t mince words, but he knows exactly the right words to connect with newbies. this is often a problem with many programming books where the increased skill level of the author makes it difficult to connect with people who don’t understand.
but in python programming you will learn the basics of loops, functions, variables, classes and how all these ideas fit together in a practical sense.
The great thing about this style of teaching is how these lessons apply to everything else you study. each programming language has similar variables, loops, and features. if you learn their purpose, you’ll find it much easier to put them together in code.
If you are a newbie who really wants to understand programming, then this book is a must. it’s the best place to start to avoid confusion and walk away with a new sense of confidence in coding.
learning python
Need a massive compilation of everything Python? Then you’ll want to take a look at the 1,600 page tome of information that is Learning Python.
yes, this book is incredibly long. however, much of the book has a good division between the writing and the code samples that make the job easier. the samples are well written and easy to read regardless of your experience level.
Just keep in mind that this book is very technical and really reads like a python manual. it is not an easy thing to learn and immerse yourself in, although all the information is absolutely correct.
It just depends on your learning style and how much you know about programming. much of the early chapters cover very basic topics like how python works and how to run applications. if you’re past that stage, you can always jump into the meaty stuff.
learning python is an excellent reference guide for one of the best programming languages in the world. It’s also very meaty, so if you’re looking for a comprehensive guide with detailed explanations, give it a try.
murach’s python programming
One of the newest and most up-to-date books in this list is Murach’s Python Programming. It’s also a fairly large title with about 600 pages and a few dozen chapters covering functions, modules, I/O contents, and debugging.
Some of the best lessons in this book are the ones on testing and debugging. It’s a huge topic and there’s a lot to learn, but Murach’s teaching style is exquisite, so it should connect with readers of all levels.
There is also a great chapter on object oriented programming where you will learn the differences between functional programming and object oriented programming. this is a big deal with python and helps you design your own applications in the future.
Each chapter ends with specific exercises to help you practice what you’ve learned and put those ideas into practice. If you’re not sure where to start with the powerful language of python, this book can get you well into intermediate-level coding.
learn python in a day
Yes the title is a bit of a misnomer but Learn Python in One Day offers some real value to your average programmer.
It’s a very short book with only 125 pages, so you can’t expect much from this title. it’s mostly just a brief introduction to python keeping the learning process simple.
This is not one of the first books I would recommend unless you really don’t understand programming. if you’ve struggled with tons of other books and still don’t get python, consider choosing this one.
Just keep in mind that this is definitely a limited resource, so I won’t go into too much detail. you’ll need to complete this with your own research, but it offers a reasonable starting point for newbies.
fluent python
There are many different ways to write code, but the best code should be easy to read and edit. Most beginning coders don’t consider this but it’s something you’ll eventually want to learn about because it’s crucial for real-world projects.
Luciano Ramalho’s Fluent Python: Programming Clear, Concise, and Effective is a stellar title with nearly 800 pages of clear learning resources and exercises. This is not a book for beginners, so it requires at least some knowledge of the fundamentals.
however, you can be a semi-experienced beginner and still get through these lessons. They cover a lot of topics, like duck typing and class decorators, both of which are crucial to writing clean, simple code.
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The level of depth and clarity of this writing is incredible. For such a complex subject, Luciano really knows how to develop ideas and present them in crystal clear writing.
No matter what your skill level, there’s something here for everyone, so I highly recommend checking it out if you’re curious about cleaning up your workflow.
essential python reference
As reference guides go the Python Essential Reference book is fantastic. This focuses on two main topics: the Python language and the Python standard library.
is one of the clearest reference guides for all things python 2.x and 3. each chapter shares a bunch of code snippets to illustrate how certain features work and how you can apply them in the real world.
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You should already know a bit about python before taking this reference, but you don’t need to know much! the writing style is concise but still readable no matter your skill level.
and the code snippets are incredibly reliable, so this is a book you can refer to for years to come.
Efficient Python: 59 Specific Ways to Write Better Python
If you’re hoping to up your Python game to the next level take a look at Effective Python: 59 Specific Ways to Write Better Python written by by Brett Slatkin.
You can do a lot with this language and they all have a slightly different coding style. This book can help you realign your coding standards to create more robust, extensible, and easier-to-read python scripts.
brett has years of experience working with python and uses this book as a way to show off little idiosyncrasies you may never have noticed in the language. each chapter uses code snippets to illustrate the different techniques and how they would be applied in the real world.
Ultimately, the key is efficiency and creating code that works well. no matter how great your app is, you can always make it better. but knowing where to focus your time is how you will see the most growth.
Some of the many topics you will learn are algorithms, custom objects, concurrency, working with modules, and much more.
object-oriented programming in python 3
Once you nail down the fundamentals of Python you may be looking for the next step. Anyone serious about coding in Python should look towards OOP practices.
with python 3 object-oriented programming, you can learn everything you need to know about python with dozens of working examples and code snippets to work with. This book shows you how to create classes and build objects using an object-oriented approach.
but you will also learn how to extend other classes to add your own functions/objects to the library. this is common practice with most open source scripts and is something you will need to learn on your journey to mastering python.
Even if you are a complete beginner with little or no experience, this book might surprise you. the writing style is simple enough for anyone to follow, not to mention that oop is also a major topic in most other python books.
python pocket reference
For a small desk reference or a tiny learning resource the Python Pocket Reference is a great book to have in your collection.
this thing is pretty small and only 4″ wide. but the index is nice and easy to navigate, which is exactly what you’d look for in a pocket guide.
covers python in enough detail that you can find almost anything you need.
just search for any function, object, or syntax you need to solve any problem in your project. this is especially good when you’re working at a job or traveling and don’t have direct access to the internet (hell on earth).
The information is up to date and these solutions should work even in the latest version of python. This is also small enough to fit in your laptop bag without sacrificing much space. a great addition for python enthusiasts who like these smaller reference books.
doing math with python
Working with big data often includes a lot of stats and analysis. Programmers typically study mathematics to apply logic into algorithms with their own equations.
In the How To Do Math With Python book, you’ll learn how to write scripts that work with topics like statistics, probability, and calculus. the first few chapters start with very basic ideas of quadratic equations and slowly work their way up to more complex ideas.
If you can get through the first few chapters, you’ll soon realize why math is so important to programming. This book covers a variety of exercises that are tailored for hands-on projects where you’ll need to collect data, analyze it, and then display it using images.
You will also learn how to work with derivatives and compute probability as a function of a given number of variables. python can help you automate a lot if you know how to do the math correctly.
Just keep in mind that you should have a very simple understanding of math, if not a more detailed working knowledge, before you grab this book. if not, you will feel lost trying to learn the equations together with the python code.
the hitchhiker’s guide to python
One of the primary goals of the Python language is simplicity. It’s meant to be a very simple and readable language so your code should reflect that.
if you think your code isn’t up to the task, check out the hitchhiker’s guide to python by kenneth reitz and tanya schlusser. in truth, this book was written by hundreds of contributors from the python community who share their tips, ideas, and strategies for writing clean python code.
This is a guide to help you get back on track with python by writing clean projects that make reuse easy. the first chapters talk about the development environment of it, from ides to container tools like docker.
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later chapters will teach you how to write and read great code and how to follow the procedures of other libraries like flass.
You should already be familiar with python before picking up this book. however, you don’t need to be an expert, and in fact the goal of this book is to help you get there.
learn python the hard way
If you learn best from practice and exercises then you’ll really enjoy Learn Python the Hard Way.
Don’t let the name fool you; This book is quite simple to read. but it is also a technical manual with more than 50 different exercises that slowly increase in difficulty. the goal is to teach you how to write clean software, how python code works, and how to analyze problems before you even write a single character to your .py files.
Each chapter gets progressively more difficult introducing techniques that most professional coders use in their work. you’ll learn about program design, data structures, object-oriented programming, inheritance, and a bunch of similar concepts.
Towards the end, you’ll learn about Python for web development and game development, two popular topics that most programmers are eager to understand.
taking this approach will be “more difficult” in the sense of more work. But the best way to learn is to work hard, and this book will help you through the process.
web scraping with python
Many popular websites have their own APIs where developers can pull data in JSON or XML, then parse that data to display on their own site. Facebook and Twitter are two examples but there are many others.
web scraping with python goes beyond simple api calls and helps you create real web scrapers. You will learn how to parse html code with python and how to extract the data you want from any web page.
As you collect this data, you’ll also need to store it somewhere, and you’ll learn a few different storage methods that work well. You’ll even learn how to scrape javascript code and run basic image processing, all in python!
This is a versatile book and demonstrates everything you can do with python. it’s an ideal read for intermediate-level developers, but even beginners can start here and try to pick up the basics along the way.
python cookbook
It’s tough finding cookbooks that are worth the money. But the Python Cookbook is an excellent resource for any developer and it’s fully updated with all code samples tested in Python 3.x.
You will find varied recipes ranging from the absolute basics of the core language of python to more detailed tasks such as metaprogramming and concurrency. this includes network programming and testing/debugging of large code bases.
The chapters are very well written with an easy to read “plain English” approach to teaching. you can browse the index to find what you need, and the code snippets are simple enough to copy into your own projects.
This book covers a vast amount of material that almost seems endless.
It’s one of those rare-code cookbooks you can buy, keep on your shelf for years, and it’ll still be relevant years later.
think python
I enjoyed the Think Python book from O’Reilly along with many other skilled Python coders out there. But you actually don’t even need to go out of your way since the title is available online in the public domain.
Now, if you’re someone who likes hard copies, I recommend you buy one. helps support the publisher and shows how much demand there is for similar topics.
This is one of the easiest guides to python scripting that will take you from a novice to an expert programmer in no time. it’s also one of the best resources for intermediate level python coders to get some gems later in the book.
Because this is a very exercise-focused title, you’ll need to work on coding to see the results. but this shouldn’t be a problem if you’re determined to master python.
introduction to machine learning with python
I recently covered a bunch of books on machine learning and explained how it’s a rapidly advancing industry. Python is one of the best languages you can use for machine learning and the current race to AI development.
The introduction to machine learning with python is incredibly detailed and fairly new to the market. the first edition clocks in at just under 400 pages and covers everything you need to know about python and machine learning basics.
This makes it a pretty decent buy for beginners, even if you know nothing about python. It’s certainly not easy to learn, but you can pick it up quickly by following these exercises.
And if your goal is to work on machine learning, you’ll be even more excited to get on with these lessons. from setting up your development environment to creating custom algorithms, this book has it all in spades.
Finding the right book always depends on your skills and what you want to learn. Python programming is great for absolute newbies who don’t even know what programming is or how a compiler works.
but if you want something a little more python oriented, check out murach’s python programming. It’s a long title, but it will take you from being a complete novice to an expert programmer without much difficulty.
as your skills improve, you can look to fluent python and effective python, both great resources to get you into the intermediate to advanced range.
Either way, this list should have more than enough for everyone, so take another look and see what you can find!
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