Python Data Science Handbook
Python Data Science Handbook by Jake VanderPlasby Jake VanderPlas
Shares rank 2 of 10 machine learning books by recommenders
A well-written intro to data science and machine learning in Python that covers a lot of ground; the caveat raised is that it is more an introduction than depth.
A well-written intro to data science and machine learning in Python that covers a lot of ground; the caveat raised is that it is more an introduction than depth.
8 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 8
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 2 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 8 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 2 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Solid, accessible introduction to data science
“This was the solid book to get into data science and ML scene. Covers everything.”
Comment from 5 Dec 2025 in “Python Data Science Handbook” “it's more like an introduction. But it's pretty well written.”
Comment from 2 Dec 2025 in “Python Data Science Handbook” “this seems to be a good intro level book”
Comment from 2 Dec 2025 in “Python Data Science Handbook” Valued the author's earlier work
“He had an awesome post on pivot table that I think is now a part of this book.”
Comment from 2 Dec 2025 in “Python Data Science Handbook” “It was immensely useful and I've loved his work ever since.”
Comment from 2 Dec 2025 in “Python Data Science Handbook”
Other machine learning books people recommend
The four most recommended other machine learning books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Build a Large Language Model (From Scratch)by Sebastian Raschka | 16 | 0 | 100% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Python Data Science Handbookby Jake VanderPlasThis page | 8 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
| Build an LLM from Scratchby Sebastian Raschka | 8 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | — |
| The Little Learnerby Daniel P. Friedman and Anurag Mendhekar | 6 | 2 | 75% | 2 | — | — |
| Probabilistic Machine Learningby Kevin Murphy | 5 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
7 of the 8 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“they will help you understand "how computers really work"”
“This was the solid book to get into data science and ML scene. Covers everything.”
“It was immensely useful and I've loved his work ever since.”
“This is one of the few books that I read cover-to-cover”
“it's more like an introduction. But it's pretty well written.”
“this seems to be a good intro level book”
“He had an awesome post on pivot table that I think is now a part of this book.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.