Python Playground: Geeky Projects for the Curious Programmer

This book is super articulate. The author is amazingly good at explaining concepts in a clear manner that is not too dumbed down. That makes it a joy to read and since the projects are so fun it really resonated with me. You can actually find great pleasure curling up with this book before you choose to venture in front of the computer to program or just run the code.

I've only skimmed through this book so far, but it's amazing. I can't believe the quality of the projects that Venkitachalam provides.I've been programming with Python for a while now, and I'm tired of so many beginner's books. I'm glad that the author assumes you are familiar with the language and concepts, and he dives right into making awesome projects.You can make a laser light show that responds to sound, you can simulate the sounds of musical instruments, and create 3D particle effects, all using Python.If you want to make cool s***, I HIGHLY recommend this book!

This book in one word: AMAZING!!!I had never found a programming book so well explained and with so much level of detail. For an enthusiast like me, since I am not a full-time programmer, having a challenging project to have a learning-by-doing experience is fundamental, and finding it so well explained is, simply, wonderful.Thanks Mahesh, you rocks!!

This book is not for beginners, though the code is annotated and all there for you to type-in or download from the book's website. The author covers some subjects I've been interested in for years, like Boids (simulating a flock of birds), autostereograms (those mosaics you stare at until a 3D image magically appears) and ray-tracing. What I like best about the book is the "How it works" sections at the start of each chapter, which break down what's behind the technology and guides you through the strategies for writing the code. On the downside, the book contains a section on electronics and hardware hacking, which are definitely interesting, but probably should've been in a separate book. I'm not that interested in building my own hardware, so I had to pay for almost 100 pages of material I probably wouldn't have bought, just to get the Python programming projects I was interested in. On the other hand, if you are interested in building hardware and writing Python programs to run it, then you will probably find this part very useful.

A fun book for beginning to mid-range Python programmers. Filled with practical examples and snippets. Wide project coverage ranging from small local tools to internet utilities. The title and cover are a bit misleading: this is a set of "toy" programs but rather solid building blocks for useful applications. Writing and style are clear and appropriate for the noted audiences. Highly recommended for beginning Python developers.

Loaded with entertaining and interesting ideas.. not a typical programming book at all. It's for the hobbyist programmer looking for a bit of fun. Don't pass it up!

This is the book every beginner should read before heading into the unknown.

I had high hopes for this book but just not enough there to justify the cost. Lots of debugging to get the authors project code to work. Gave up trying. Maybe some better authors in this series of books. My thoughts are this one is a dud.