OOP books?

[Ken D'Ambrosio]

Hi, all. Over the years, I've programmed in a fair number of languages;
the ones with which I became most familiar were assembler, BASIC,
Pascal, and "lately" (the last fifteen years or so) Perl. Now I'm
trying my hand at Python. While I don't have any problems with the ins
and outs of the language (at least thus-far), I'm afraid I'm taking the
wrong approach. The common thread in all the languages I "speak" is
that they're all procedural languages, and I'm treating Python the same.
[Okay: Perl does have OOP, but it's retrofitted and ugly.] Is there
an intro-to-Python book where the emphasis isn't so much on the
language, but on OOP, itself? Or, failing that, at least a Python book
which doesn't just introduce the language, but gives equal billing to
OOP practices, etc.

Thanks much!

-Ken
** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

[Mike Driscoll]

Re: OOP books?

On Oct 15, 1:02 pm, Ken D'Ambrosio <k...@jots.orgw rote:

Hi, all.  Over the years, I've programmed in a fair number of languages;
the ones with which I became most familiar were assembler, BASIC,
Pascal, and "lately" (the last fifteen years or so) Perl.  Now I'm
trying my hand at Python.  While I don't have any problems with the ins
and outs of the language (at least thus-far), I'm afraid I'm taking the
wrong approach.  The common thread in all the languages I "speak" is
that they're all procedural languages, and I'm treating Python the same.
   [Okay: Perl does have OOP, but it's retrofitted and ugly.]  Is there
an intro-to-Python book where the emphasis isn't so much on the
language, but on OOP, itself?  Or, failing that, at least a Python book
which doesn't just introduce the language, but gives equal billing to
OOP practices, etc.
>
Thanks much!
>
-Ken
** Posted fromhttp://www.teranews.co m**

"Python Power" has a couple chapters on OOP, but you might also find
the free Dive Into Python helpful:

http://diveintopython.org/object_oriented_framework/index.html

I have yet to read a Python book that only focuses on the OOP part,
probably because everything in Python is an object, so even if you
don't realize it, you're probably using some OOP concepts whenever you
write in it.

Mike

[Alan G Isaac]

Re: OOP books?

Mike Driscoll wrote:

I have yet to read a Python book that only focuses on the OOP part,

http://www.amazon.com/Scripting-Objects-Comparative-Presentation-Object-Oriented/dp/047039725X

fwiw,
Alan Isaac

[Rob Wolfe]

Re: OOP books?

Ken D'Ambrosio <ken@jots.orgwr ites:

Is there an intro-to-Python book where the emphasis isn't so
much on the language, but on OOP, itself? Or, failing that, at least
a Python book which doesn't just introduce the language, but gives
equal billing to OOP practices, etc.

Take a look at design patterns in Python:

http://www.aleax.it/goo_pydp.pdf

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3035093035748181693

HTH,
Rob

[Mike Driscoll]

Re: OOP books?

On Oct 15, 1:57 pm, Alan G Isaac <ais...@america n.eduwrote:

Mike Driscoll wrote:

I have yet to read a Python book that only focuses on the OOP part,

>
http://www.amazon.com/Scripting-Obje...sentation-Obje...
>
fwiw,
Alan Isaac

Wow! That's a pricey book! Have you read it? Is it good?

Mike

[Alan G Isaac]

Re: OOP books?

On 10/15/2008 4:07 PM Mike Driscoll apparently wrote:

Wow! That's a pricey book! Have you read it? Is it good?

Per page the price is right: it runs nearly 1300 pages!
I have not read it, but I have read a chunk of his previous
<URL:http://www.amazon.com/Programming-Objects-Comparative-Presentation-Object-Oriented/dp/B00179EUEA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=U TF8&s=books&qid =1224105582&sr= 1-2>
and found it very good. (However, I am not in CS, so caveat emptor.)

Alan Isaac

[Asun Friere]

Re: OOP books?

On Oct 16, 7:12 am, Bruno Desthuilliers
<bdesth.quelque ch...@free.quel quepart.frwrote :

[snip]

Not a word about Python in it, but:http://www.amazon.com/Design-Pattern...ddison-Wesley-...
>
A must-read if you want to understand OO (MHO of course).

Yes, if only to see how many of the design patterns in C++ are not
applicable to Python ;) But seriously, the Gang of Four book is the
classic book for design patterns. I agree that it is required
reading, but it probably requires a working knowledge of basic OO
design to get much out of it.

At a more basic level a good UML primer (such as Page-Jones'
'Fundamentals of OO Design in UML') will get you thinking about OO
Design and is worth a look. If only to see how many of the Java-like
concepts are not applicable to Python.

Has anyone looked at, and have any opinions about, this rather
expensive tome? Goldwasser & Letcher 'Object-Oriented Programming in
Python'

http://www.amazon.com/Object-Oriented-Programming-Python-Michael-Goldwasser/dp/0136150314/

[Bruno Desthuilliers]

Re: OOP books?

Asun Friere a écrit :

On Oct 16, 7:12 am, Bruno Desthuilliers
<bdesth.quelque ch...@free.quel quepart.frwrote :
>
[snip]
>

>Not a word about Python in it, but:http://www.amazon.com/Design-Pattern...ddison-Wesley-...
>>
>A must-read if you want to understand OO (MHO of course).

>
Yes, if only to see how many of the design patterns in C++ are not
applicable to Python ;)

s/not applicable/not needed/

Indeed, some of the canonical DP are kind of workaround the lack of
dynamism in C++ and Java. At least if you stop at the implementation
example. But remember they are *design* patterns, not implementation
patterns. The point is that some of these patterns are so "integrated "
in idiomatic Python you just don't see them no more - but still they are
here (iterator anyone ?)

But seriously, the Gang of Four book is the
classic book for design patterns. I agree that it is required
reading, but it probably requires a working knowledge of basic OO
design to get much out of it.

I'd say a minimal working knowledge of basic OO concepts (classes,
instances, attributes, methods, polymorphic dispatch and inheritance)
and UML notation (mostly class diagrams). Most of what there is to know
about OO *design* is what this book is about. Hint : don't jump to the
patterns section, start with a careful reading of the whole introduction.

At a more basic level a good UML primer (such as Page-Jones'
'Fundamentals of OO Design in UML') will get you thinking about OO
Design and is worth a look. If only to see how many of the Java-like
concepts are not applicable to Python.

Yeps. One of the problems with UML is that it's way too much C++/Java
centric.

Has anyone looked at, and have any opinions about, this rather
expensive tome? Goldwasser & Letcher 'Object-Oriented Programming in
Python'
http://www.amazon.com/Object-Oriente...dp/0136150314/

From the readers reviews:
"""
The title is a little misleading unless you take it as a literal python
statement. It is true that there is object-oriented programming IN
python. It is also true that this book discusses object-oriented
programming IN python. But the book does little to discuss
object-oriented programming WITH python.
"""