I haven't read it yet, but I know the author, Ivan Van Laningham, from a presentation he made at a Python Conference. He's very knowledgable, well-respected by his Python peers, and an engaging speaker, so it may well be a good introduction. We tried to link directly to Teach Yourself Python in 24 Hours , but Sams' Website does not allow for direct linking to catalog pages. We know that there are lots of people who want to learn how to program. We don't yet offer much in the way of books for them.
Many people learn programming by taking a class.
In Editorial, we've begun to look at what it takes to write books that can be used as textbooks, but it's not yet a major business for us. Watered-down introductions . I have always found such books to be the least satisfying technical books. Application-focused books . As he noted, Designing with JavaScript uses this technique.