Top Python books recommended by experts

At MentorCruise, we are all about making the most out of the experience of others. As part of that, we've connected and asked dozens of experts and professionals about their favourite Python books – and here are the answers.

Table of Contents

Fundamentals of Python

Understanding the concepts of Python starts with understanding the fundamentals. On your way to mastery, it's crucial for you to understand how certain concepts were derived, and why things work like they do. Starting with these resources is the best way to do so.

Intuitive Python: Productive Development for Projects That Last

In this book, you will learn about some of Python's greatest strengths, weaknesses, and tools to maximize the utility and resiliency of your Python projects. This book contains content for programmers—especially programmers newer to Python—interested in leveling up the projects they maintain with Python.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

Effective Python: 59 Specific Ways to Write Better Python

Effective Python, 59 Ways to Write Better Python by Brett Slatkin is a neat little book to help you hone your Python skills (both for 2 and 3). It consists of tips across various concepts, from useful built-in modules to documentation.

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Python Cookbook

If you need help writing programs in Python 3, or want to update older Python 2 code, this book is just the ticket. Packed with practical recipes written and tested with Python 3.3, this unique cookbook is for experienced Python programmers who want to focus on modern tools and idioms.

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Python Crash Course: A Hands-on, Project-based Introduction to Programming

Python Crash Course is a fast-paced, thorough introduction to programming with Python that will have you writing programs, solving problems, and making things that work in no time.

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Python 3: The Comprehensive Guide

Ready to master Python? Learn to write effective code with this award-winning comprehensive guide, whether you’re a beginner or a professional programmer. Review core Python concepts, including functions, modularization, and object orientation and walk through the available data types. Then dive into more advanced topics, such as using Django and working with GUIs. With plenty of code examples…

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Redux Made Easy with Rematch: Reduce Redux Boilerplate and Apply Best Practices with Rematch

Rematch is Redux best practices without the boilerplate. This book is an easy-to-read guide for anyone who wants to get started with Redux, and for those who are already using it and want to improve their codebase.

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Additional Python Reading

These books are not required for you to learn Python, but they are highly recommended for you to deepen your knowledge.

Grokking Algorithms: An Illustrated Guide for Programmers and Other Curious People

Grokking Algorithms is a friendly take on this core computer science topic. In it, you'll learn how to apply common algorithms to the practical programming problems you face every day. You'll start with tasks like sorting and searching.

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Tiny Python Projects: Learn Coding and Testing with Puzzles and Games

The 21 fun-but-powerful activities in Tiny Python Projects teach Python fundamentals through puzzles and games. You'll be engaged and entertained with every exercise, as you learn about text manipulation, basic algorithms, and lists and dictionaries, and other foundational programming skills.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

Python Programming Language QuickStudy Laminated Reference Guide

Created for developers of all skill levels to find the essentials of common operations combined with the fastest reference guide for writing code. This handy 6 page laminated guide is a concise desktop reference to key concepts behind Python logic, syntax, and operation. Expertly written to concisely cover the planning of a program written in Python, assigning your first variables, importing o…

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Machine Learning with PyTorch and Scikit-Learn: Develop Machine Learning and Deep Learning Models with Python

Machine Learning with PyTorch and Scikit-Learn is a comprehensive guide to machine learning and deep learning with PyTorch. It acts as both a step-by-step tutorial and a reference you'll keep coming back to as you build your machine learning systems.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

Python for Data Analysis: Data Wrangling with pandas, NumPy, and Jupyter

Get the definitive handbook for manipulating, processing, cleaning, and crunching datasets in Python. Updated for Python 3.10 and pandas 1.4, the third edition of this hands-on guide is packed with practical case studies that show you how to solve a broad set of data analysis problems effectively. You'll learn the latest versions of pandas, NumPy, and Jupyter in the process.
Written by Wes …

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

Practical Statistics for Data Scientists: 50+ Essential Concepts Using R and Python

Statistical methods are a key part of data science, yet few data scientists have formal statistical training. Courses and books on basic statistics rarely cover the topic from a data science perspective. The second edition of this popular guide adds comprehensive examples in Python, provides practical guidance on applying statistical methods to data science, tells you how to avoid their misuse…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

Specializations and Deeper Python Knowledge

You've got your basics in order – time to move on to some advanced and specialized concepts. Python is evolving every day, these books can help you master it.

Python Cookbook: Recipes for Mastering Python 3

This book is aimed at more experienced Python programmers who are looking to deepen their understanding of the language and modern programming idioms. Much of the material focuses on some of the more advanced techniques used by libraries, frameworks, and applications.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

This list is curated by MentorCruise and can include Amazon affiliate links. Have any other suggestions? Add here.

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