Thinking in Python
Thinking in Python by Bruce Eckelby Bruce Eckel
Shares rank 21 of 115 programming books by recommenders
Free, openly licensed Python book that suits readers coming from C++ and gives a good handle on modern Python style. Critics note remnants from the Java edition.
Free, openly licensed Python book that suits readers coming from C++ and gives a good handle on modern Python style. Critics note remnants from the Java edition.
9 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 7
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 78%
Recommended in 1 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 7 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 3.5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 1 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
Good coverage of modern Python
“there is some very good (and for the Python world novel) stuff in it”
Comment from 23 Aug 2026 in “Thinking in Python” “it prepares you for the Python coding style for now to in two years”
Comment from 23 Aug 2026 in “Thinking in Python” “he has a pretty good handle on the progression of Python”
Comment from 22 Aug 2026 in “Thinking in Python”
Other programming books people recommend
The four most recommended other programming 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crafting Interpretersby Robert Nystrom | 60 | 4 | 94% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Clean Codeby Robert C. Martin | 31 | 87 | 26% | 9 | — | — |
| The Pragmatic Programmerby Andy Hunt and Dave Thomas | 28 | 1 | 97% | 7 | — | Approved |
| How to Design Programsby Matthias Felleisen and Robert Bruce Findler and Matthew Flatt and Shriram Krishnamurthi | 18 | 2 | 90% | 7 | — | Approved |
| Thinking in Pythonby Bruce EckelThis page | 7 | 2 | 78% | 1 | — | — |
What people said
All 9 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“the performance section just progressively turned into”
“it prepares you for the Python coding style for now to in two years”
“that version seems to have some remnants left from Java version of the book”
“there is some very good (and for the Python world novel) stuff in it”
“It's basically an annotated syntax guide for readers from a C++ background”
“Personally, I prefer CC BY-SA to CC BY-NC-ND, but it is certainly much better than 100% protected.”
“It is a bit on the larger side at 7.4MB”
“I indeed find the formatting quality of the site to be superior.”
“he has a pretty good handle on the progression of Python”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.