Automate the Boring Stuff with Python, 3rd Edition

Why it's worth it

Al Sweigart teaches Python through tasks you've actually suffered through: renaming hundreds of files, pulling tables out of PDFs, filling in spreadsheets you'd rather not open. You'll write something useful in your first week, which is the best motivation there is.

This is the book for people who don't want to become programmers. If your job involves a spreadsheet you dread every Monday, the payoff arrives fast. Sweigart covers Excel and Google Sheets, web scraping, email, PDFs and file organization, and every chapter ends with something you can point at your own mess. That's a different promise from everything else here.

It assumes nothing at all. No prior code, no math, no computer science vocabulary. The writing is conversational to a fault, which is exactly right for the audience — people who've been told at some point that programming isn't for them. The newer edition adds material on input validation and automating Google Sheets.

From our review of 8 books for learning python and machine learning, by David Sinclair, Managing Editor

What we like

• +This is the book for people who don't want to become programmers
• +It assumes nothing at all
• +It pairs with a beginner book rather than replacing one

What to know

• –The trade-off for all that practicality is depth
• –A few of the scraping and form-filling examples can put you crosswise with a site's terms of service if you aim them at the…