

A Great Python Book Explains Hash Tables - ajschumacher
http://planspace.org/20150111-a_great_python_book_explains_hash_tables/

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greenyoda
Judging by the reviews on Amazon, this book is really an introductory computer
science text (which happens to use Python), not a "Python book". Just about
any decent intro-CS or algorithms book will teach you about hash tables, since
they're one of the most ancient (1953) and fundamental data structures of
computer science.

If you already have a CS background and want to learn Python as an additional
language, this book would probably be boringly redundant. You'd want a book
that just said "Python dictionaries are implemented as hash tables" and
assumed that you knew what that meant (e.g., the Python equivalent of the K&R
C book).

On the other hand, if you were new to CS (and were willing to put in a lot of
work), this book could teach you CS and Python at the same time. Just don't
expect to get through it in a couple of weeks.

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ajschumacher
Thanks! I think you're right.

A lot of "learn to code" materials take the approach of just being "a Python
book" (for example) with the result being that people don't get any CS
background.

* Where is there an introductory book on CS, separated from some language? * What beginner wants to learn abstract CS, separated from some language?

I think I like the book because it combines the CS with the Python - it isn't
just a summary of syntax with exercises.

