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Comments (39)

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  JLO64
  While the web version of this book looks fine, I only read books on my Kindle (with KOReader). Thankfully all I had to do was clone the source repo (https://github.com/BruceEckel/ThinkingInPython) and run `make epub` to get a nicely formatted file! It is a bit on the larger side at 7.4MB, but beggars can't be choosers... (On second thought, I'm gonna submit a PR to shrink it as it's mostly from the cover image being 6MB!)
• bigcat12345678
  I indeed find the formatting quality of the site to be superior. As mentioned below by the author.""" I know some people don’t like AI. Without it, this book wouldn’t exist. The book is free, so if AI bothers you more than the resulting product might benefit you, please ignore this book.Using Claude made me realize how many compromises I’ve made on books in the past. I would get a good idea about something (for example, automatically interleaving commented output in the listings). I either couldn’t implement it, or it seemed too hard, so I didn’t do it. But with AI I can explore and often implement every whim, from things as seemingly straightforward as inserting a new chapter to ones as daunting as that commented-output system. The result is much better than anything I managed before. I keep going until I’ve tweaked everything that occurs to me. """
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  ra
  I originally learned Java in 2000 from Bruce Eckel's "Thinking in Java"
• runningmike
  Nice to see this! Personally, I prefer CC BY-SA to CC BY-NC-ND, but it is certainly much better than 100% protected. Over the years, I've built and maintain a list[1] of CC BY-SA Python books that have no access barriers, such as mandatory account creation or intrusive web trackers.[1] https://nocomplexity.com/documents/pythonbook/bookreferences...
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  roelschroeven
  "The book targets Python 3.15 and later"That's a bit weird, Python 3.15 isn't even fully released yet.
• janpeuker
  Nice formatting - None of the book seems to be about "Thinking" though. It's basically an annotated syntax guide for readers from a C++ background?
• andai
  Not to be confused with Think Python, which is also excellent:https://allendowney.github.io/ThinkPython/
• grandimam
  I had created something along the same lines - a platform for devs to understand Python deeply, and was trying to see if there was a market for such content. The thing that I realised is that even with AI, there has to be distribution available for things like this to gain traction.
• pjacotg
  I posted this link and found out about it on episide 121 of a podcast called Happy Path Programming, which Bruce Eckel hosts. I was aware that he had started and subsequently abandoned writing the book, so was excited to hear he had used Claude to clean up all of his old material for the book.
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  a2ff6eeb0
  Since this is autogenerated, is it possible that it's going to be auto updated as new versions of python come out? That'd be pretty cool. It'd be interesting to see this kind of thing unfold itself into a book.When I feed it into an LLM, do you think it's going to improve the output of the code, or will it need additional prompting?
• shevy-java
  SszSszsss... sssssss.... ssssssz!https://bash-org-archive.com/?400459
• anon
  undefined
• Ozzie-D
  The "Thinking in" series shaped how an entire generation learned to program. What made those books work wasn't the language coverage, it was that Eckel focused on mental models rather than syntax reference. You came away understanding how to think about the language, not just how to write it. Curious whether that approach translates well to Python, which arguably has a less opinionated object model than Java did.
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  enygmata
  Where can I get a physical copy of this?
• adellsworth
  is there anything like this for clang?
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  jdw64
  I think what people call 'AI slop' is probably just unedited content. I actually like this content quite a bit. Rather than whether it was made with AI, I think what matters is whether it accurately matches the specification
• codedump
  [dead]
• reader9274
  [dead]
• noobplus
  [flagged]
• conmod278
  why are these low effort and devoid of any content posts being upvoted?
• epgui
  I would only wish that on my enemies... For god's sake, if you're going to think in a programming language, pick one with strict referential transparency.
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  izdubar
  > Python exists to improve your productivity. The language aims to aid you as much as possible. It tries to hinder you as little as possible. It does not impose arbitrary rules or force a particular set of features.Except that everything needs to be reified into a top-level class with a unique name, even if it's just a piece data that you pass into/return from a single function. Also whitespace matters.