Object-Oriented Programming in Python is a good introductory
textbook for learning object-oriented programming using the Python
language. The authors are both computer science professors at St Louis
University. The book, therefore, is oriented to preparing the reader
for future learning in computer science. It takes the reader from
knowing comparatively little to programming chat clients and similar
advanced topics and rounds off with a transition guide to compiled
programming languages.
Sections
The book is divided into three sections: fundamental topics, advanced
topics, and a series of appendices. The first section introduces
several basic concepts of programming. The authors start with laying
out the theoretical background to computer programming and add to that
classes, I/O, and inheritance.
A substantial plus in this first section is a chapter on good software
practices. The authors cover naming conventions, documentation,
encapsulation, unit testing, and error-checking as they show how to
develop a game of Mastermind. Such practices are not always covered in
introductory texts, so this is a bonus for the reader.Custom Graphics Package?
Also in this section, the authors introduce their own graphics
package, cs1graphics. Given the number of graphics packages available
for Python, one wonders why. In the first chapter, the authors
discuss a hierarchy for a set of drawable objects. Evidently, the
available packages (e.g., wxPython, Tkinter) do not adequately foot
the bill. The result of requiring a student to use a non-standard
package, however, is that the student gets steeped in a way that is
not widely accepted. This is obviously problematic - especially in
the third chapter of the book. The consequences may be overcome by
implementing the same programs using the likes of Panda3d or wxPython.Advanced Topics
Where the first section covers basic Python programming and core
programming concepts, the second section goes on to cover more
advanced programming skills. Among the advanced topics covered in the
second part of the book are interrelationships between objects,
recursion, data structures, and basic sorting algorithms. The section
ends with a chapter on network programming.Appendices
The book contains four appendices. The first contains an overview of
IDLE, Python's integrated development environment. The second
appendix offers a transition guide for moving from Python to Java or
C++. This obviously betrays the (in my opinion, erroneous) view that
Python is something one learns en route to compiled languages. The
third appendix contains the solutions to the exercises which end each
chapter. Finally, the authors include a glossary of major computing
terms.
