Recently I switched from using YouTube to improve my Python skills to reading books. Yes, actual books printed on paper. No digital or ebooks (even though there’s nothing wrong with using those, but I prefer reading from physical books). Why did I make this change to learning Python from books? Did I not like learning from video content? Should you use a book to learn a programming language? What are the pros and cons of my decision? I’ll answer those questions in this post.
Why I’m Learning Python From Books
I’m learning Python from books because I found myself not actually absorbing the material while watching videos on YouTube. I think this is a problem others run into, but don’t realize. Which is why they have trouble implementing what they learned into a project.
I didn’t have a problem with focusing on the content, as the presenter was engaging. And I didn’t suffer from distractions, like from my phone, because when it’s study time I make sure to only focus on my study material. However, I found myself just watching the videos play without taking any notes. I became a watcher fully, not inspired to follow along with the presenter as that person typed on the screen.
I would go back and rewatch the video to try to absorb the material. Sometimes I would even code along with the presenter using my code editor (usually PyCharm). Alas, those actions didn’t help me as much as I wanted. Thus, I turned to books.
I got the idea to use a programming book from a YouTube video funny enough! As an avid fiction book reader I’m not sure why I didn’t think of this avenue myself. I’ve browsed books in the Technology section at bookstores in the past.
I used Gemini to ask for Python programming book recommendations. Then I compared those to recommendations I got from YouTube searches. I finally purchased the following books:
- Python Crash Course by Eric Matthes
- Object-Oriented Python by Irv Kalb
I’m currently reading Python Crash Course and will review it later on my website. So far it’s a great beginner book, and I’ve learned quite a bit from the author.
Should You Use A Book To Learn Programming?
While I’m enjoying learning Python from books, you, the reader, may not. Ask yourself these questions:
- Do you enjoy the act of reading from a physical or digital book?
- Reading requires time and focus. Do you have the ability to dedicate those?
- Do you have the money to purchase books, or access to a library?
If you can answer yes to all three, then I suggest you go ahead and use books. However, if you answer no to one of those questions you can still try to use a book, but I highly suggest checking one out from your local library to save on costs. Or you can try to find a used books at a substantial discount. This way if you don’t like using programming books then you won’t be out much money.
Another con of using programming books is they can contain outdated information. Thus, it’s important to find a book (or even a book series) that’s updated at least yearly. Or if the book isn’t updated itself, the publisher or author provides online resources (like a PDF file) containing updated information for you to download.