Effective Python › The Book: First Edition
What This Book Covered
You are reading about a previous, old version of this book. The third edition of this book (released in November, 2024) is focused exclusively on Python 3, up to and including version 3.13.
Many of the original items from the first edition have been revised and included in the second and third editions, but they have undergone substantial updates. For some items my advice has completely changed between the three editions of the book due best practices evolving as Python has matured.
If, for whatever reason, you’re still primarily using Python 2, despite its end-of-life in April 2020, the first edition of the book (released in March, 2015) may be more useful to you.
Translations are available in 日本語, Deutsche, 简体中文, 繁体中文, Русский, Polszczyzna, 한국어, Português
History about the First Edition
Live Lessons Video
Tue 04 August 2015
I worked with Addison-Wesley to produce a video version of the book Effective Python. You can view samples and buy the video on the publisher’s website.
It includes 5 hours of video, covering 32 items from the book in six lessons. The content is primarily me using a source code editor to write Python programs that demonstrate the items from the book.
Item 53: Use Virtual Environments for Isolated and Reproducible Dependencies
Wed 21 January 2015
Building larger and more complex programs often leads you to rely on various packages from the Python community. You’ll find yourself running pip to install packages like pytz, numpy, and many others.
The problem is that by default pip installs new packages in a global location. That causes all Python programs on your system to be affected by these installed modules. In theory, this shouldn’t be an issue. If you install a package and never import it, how could it affect your programs?
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Final Draft Done
Sun 16 November 2014
The final draft of the book is done. It’s 55,000 words, 250+ pages, 8 chapters, 59 items. Reviewers spent a lot of time looking over earlier drafts to ensure that the book will be useful. Now it’s off to production to be turned into a printable layout.
Welcome
Mon 18 August 2014
This website is now live! Here you’ll find updates about my progress towards Effective Python‘s eventual publishing by Addison-Wesley. You can find other books from the Effective series in Pearson’s online store.