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Editorial Review :
Python Web Programming is a practical introduction to building networked systems in the object-oriented framework of the Python language. It shows how to leverage the powerful Python libraries to build systems with less programming effort and easier maintenance. It leaves involved discussion of the Python language by itself to other books and dives right into using Python within web enables applications. This book is intended for programmers who have experience with other programming languages (such a C or C++) and has some experience with building web-based systems. It is for the serious programmer who does not want a basic introductory to the language. All code developed in the book will be available on the newriders.com website. This is an incredible asset because the Python language allows for modular programming between systems, thus readers in their projects can use code created in the book.
Customer Review :
Great book somewhat let down by loss of focus at the end.
After reading positive reviews here and Amazon.co.uk decided to buy the book.
There is not much to add to positive points noted by previous reviews but they have omitted one important thing about this book. Up until Chapter 17 the content remains concise, sample code is well documented and explained but chapters 17 and 18 are let downs unless you are willing to do some research on the net and dig out original book code (now residing at holdenweb.com)
Chapter 17 that introduces AWeFUL; An Object-Oriented Web Site Framework starts well and what little is written on it, is well written, however, chapter only contains small parts of the framework and at the end of it, you won't have a working site. Several critical modules are omitted and despite of showing final site running on framework, all you'll be seeing are exactly that: the images from author's screen.
Similar problems to Chapter 17 are present on Chapter 18, the sample site is dependant on several modules not included in the book and unless you download book code from author's website (and couple addtional Python modules as well), you won't be able to build a working website.
On the whole, seems to me that the author has either lost his patience, was running out of space or has tried to write about something he hadn't planned properly and didn't finish on time for book.
Also slight disappointment was, especially, exclusion of MySQL from database usage examples. Already 2002 MySQL was widely used as a database backend for websites and excluding it from a book that deals with web development, it is somewhat disappointing.
Above flaws may sound worse than they really are, just something you should be aware of if you decide to buy this book and expect high standards throughout.
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Python Book Review
Although I bought the book for class, and would normally sell it once class is over, this book was extremely helpful and will definitely be a book to keep for my personal library. It was what title said, and helped me understand the course material better. I am not a perfect student, I am not 100% in any class, but because of this book, I still learned more then I would've attending course alone.
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Trying to Learn Python? Check this book out!
This book will help anyone trying to learn the Python language. I have used this book many times while writing Python code and it always remains close by! The visual reference is extremely helpful and effective during the learning process and the authors provide just enough written explanation without drowning the reader with a bunch of theory. Can't think of a book I enjoyed or would recommend more!!...
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Too much background information
The start of the book provides a good start to understanding python. As the book progresses there are several chapters which do not relate to Python much at all. I was wanting to find out about how you connect to a database from python, but there were at least two chapters on data structures and database concepts that were general, and not really related to connecting to and using a database. A similar problem exists with the intoduction to TCP/IP. Essentially the book takes us through a very low level explanation from the ground up of how TCP/IP and HTTP work. A in depth knowlege of TCP/IP is not nessasarily important to programming a web application, as most of the actual implementation of TCP/IP can be hidden from the programmer. I also feel the author was struggling to find things to say, hence the bloat. Would have been better to have been a thinner book that kept to the subject at hand.
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Not right on the mark
If you want to use Python to write a Web Server, this might be the book for you.
If you want to use Python to write a server-side script, look elsewhere.
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Editorial Review :
If you're ready to use Python and open source in a real production environment, this book delivers the techniques and code you're looking for. Softcover.
Customer Review :
Even now (2009!) stlil a very useful book
While this book is quite dated by computer technology standards, about 2/3 of it is just as relevant as when it first came out. The topics include:
-- The Python language itself. While I wouldn't suggest this is the ideal book for someone who's never used Python before, if you have just a bit of Python programming experience there's a lot of material you don't typically find in a "generic" Python tutorial such as heavy emphasis on the system programming libraries, and the somewhat more advanced Python techniques that are typically used for large-scale programming.
-- A bit about Linux and networking, and Apache. The sections here on basic shell usage are more than adequate for, e.g., someone transitioning to Windows who isn't that familiar with the command line. The networking section is good background and describes the use of helpful debugging tools such as wget, although the sections on, e.g., setting up your own DNS or DHCP servers aren't really applicable to most home installations today where the typically a wireless router or router/modem takes care of most of these details. The Apache information is good, although a few bits are outdated. Basically, the software involved has improved so much since 2001 that the finer details are often no longer needed to get your home network going.
-- CGI programming with Python. This is where the rubber meets the road... everything in this section is as relevant today as it was originally, and it provides clear instruction and examples on how your Python program gets control when someone clicks on a link on a web page and then what you're supposed to do about it! (The authors provide a quick HTML refresher in this area, although here too it's probably best if this isn't the very first time you've been exposed to, e.g., HTML forms.)
-- Database programming with MySQL. Again, just as relevant today as even. Like the comprehensive Python tutorial, there's a lot of meat in here for those who have lightweight backgrounds in databases. (And also like the Python tutorial, it's probably not the best standalone information on them, but if you've at least played around a bit in Access or MySQL or similar previously, you'll be fine.)
-- Web programming "techniques." This is the start of, "let's build an application framework!," and begins by discussing common themes that any web app faces -- parsing forms, string substitution, debugging broken code (that's running on some remote web server you can't directly touch!), maintaining state information, etc. They build a bunch of modules to make these chores easier, which they intend to be reusable for many web apps.
-- The Slither Application Development Framework. And here, in the last 1/3 of the book, they go on to develop a complete web app back end framework. There's some discussion about how -- at least historically -- pretty much any good Python web app programmer over time ended up doing this on his own, and this has led to there being many (dozens!) of Python app frameworks available today. Over time these have evolved, so, well... to put it nicely, Slither looks to be fine, but it's best to read about it from a historical context and learn from the authors' trials and tribulations rather than thinking you're going to actually deploy a Slither-based web app today. As others have pointed out, the full source code doesn't appear to be maintained anymore and with contemporary versions of Apache and Python the old version is somewhat broken. So read and learn about Slither, but when you're actually for your own production framework, either build your own (the whole point of the book is to teach you how to do this!), or if you don't have the time, use one of the many currently-maintained frameworks (I kinda like Django, but there are many to choose from... if you want something small and well-documented like Slither, try Aweful from Holden's book.)
This book is often under ten bucks used, which is a really good deal. I suppose if you're just looking for "how to I solve this specific problem?" (a "recipe"-type book), this tome isn't for you (that means you, "I already know I'll be using MySQL, so I don't care for the discussion of different database types"-man!), but if you're really looking for a deeper understanding of how Python, Apache, and the web all fit together, this book is excellent if a bit dated.
One other comment: The (much newer) "Python Web Programming" by Holden follows a very similar development to this book and serves as an excellent pairing. Thiruvathukal/Christopher/Shafaee tend to be a little bit more "low level" at times (they're working on Linux boxes whereas I suspect Holden spends most of his time on Windows), so you see more networking details and command line usage, but Holden also fills in some of the higher-level details that T/C/S don't mention. Specifically, Holden provides enough information about socket programming to make it clear that you can completely ignore Apache and write your own "raw" (web or other) servers and clients (and has examples of doing so), whereas for T/C/S, everything goes through Apache. Both good books, just slightly different emphasis in each one.
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Best kept secret in web programming
Talk about a sleeper! This book may be one of the best kept secrets in the world of Web programming books. It could be described as Web programming with Python and Open Source tools. In the hands of most authors, this much breadth would produce a multi-volume set of books complete with material that could readily be found elsewhere. The reader is fortunate that it was written and edited by educators who know how to present the pertinent and relevant details of the OS, the Shell, the Python language, Apache, SQL. Lesser books give you the world but require the reader to determine what is relevant and how to use the features described. The manuscript is original and efficient; definitely not a regurgitation of material available on the Web. The advanced sections pertaining to the development of an application server are rich with good programming methodologies. However, some chapters may be exceedingly routine for intermediate and/or advanced server-side programmers. The book could be described as a "LAMP" developer guide for novices (where the P stands for Python not Perl).
A previous reviewer cited some typos. In an effort to keep that comment in perspective, I believe the number of errors for this amount of breadth + depth is very low.
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Thank you to our readers & web site
Hello, Everyone. First, we thank all of you for the generally positive comments about our book. We worked hard to bring you a book of high quality and are still alive.
I wish to point out that the nature of this project was to provide a solid framework that, initially, was aimed at helping our readers to learn the issues involved in developing serious web applications. Think of Slither as a web framework aimed at being understood pedagogically, similar to what Minix aimed to do for teaching/learning operating systems.
That said, a number of things have changed since we wrote the book. All of our day jobs became more demanding, similar to what's going on in much of the US workforce. We are committed to evolving Slither (the framework described in our book) and look forward to involving others in the project via our new home on SourceForge. A new release is already in the planning stages, which we hope will make Slither one of the best web programming frameworks ever--especially for Python programmers!
For those who wish to grab the latest code, please visit the Slither project at SourceForge. We do not post URLs due to Amazon's guidelines.
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Learning Curve - Too Unfocused
Chapters 1-6 did not contain enough examples to get into thr mindset of the book. In particular, I would have like information better leading into the heart of the book in Chapter 8 and beyond.
Chapter 7, on the other hand, is an excellent introduction to the world of web programming.
Then, in Chapter 8 and beyond, not enough of a coding and understanding base has been built to follow the design considerations of the tools into the Slither and other tools.
In general, the information freely available on the Net for Python makes it look like the perfect tool for open source Web programming. However, the relative lack of intermediate documentation (ex. object-oeiented programming at more than a basic level) means that most actual Web sites are built in PHP, Java, or other languages not nearly as elegant. This book continues that tradition by including tools that aren't sufficiently explained to the point that I know either to: (a) use the tool, and don't reinvent the wheel; (b) these tools work, but you need to add to them for a robust application; or (c) nobody's done that (well) yet, so get going!
Still, Chapter 7 alone saved me weeks in development.
My biggest complaint is that I was anticipating learning the details of web-based MySQL database programming in Python. There's lots of infomation on MySQL programming - in MySQL. Also, as I do not own the web server - I pay a few dollars a month for that - I (a) can't configure the web server; (b) don't need to configure the web server; (c) need techniques that will work, having access to MySQL and Python, without having root access to the web server.
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Uneven
There's lots to like in this book. It takes you on a grand tour of a lot of techniques you may need to know if you want build a Web application.
Unfortunately some of the chapters are a mess: take for example Introduction to Internetworking and HTTP. There is far too much handwaving here. I'd like to know how logical ANDing a mask and an address produces two numbers. It doesnt. You'll lead your readers astray if you say that the mask is a special address. The explanation of the protocol stack could remain a mystery to many people.
This is why I gave up a long time ago with the book, but right now I am rediscovering the good chapters, like the chapter on MySQL.
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