IronPython in Action Reviews: Dror Helper, Benjamin Peterson and Life in the Cove

By Michael Foord -
IronPython in Action is the first book on IronPython and is aimed at both .NET developers new to Python and Python developers new to .NET.

Three more reviews have been posted, one by a core-Python developer (the release manager no less), one by a .NET developer and the third, well, hmm...
Benjamin Peterson is the Python release manager and a contributor to the PyPy project. You might say he knows a bit about Python. Here's an extract from the review:
IronPython in Action seems to do a very job, overall, of catering both Python programmers tiptoeing into IronPython and .NET and C# developers finding the light of dynamic programming.

I found the web programming part of the book, especially the part on Silverlight, most interesting, since embedding Python in the browser seems like a lot more fun than writing cross-browser JavaScript.

Before reading this book, I had dismissed .NET as a non-cross-platform hunk of Javaish APIs. I see now, though, that IronPython is able to combine the beauty of Python with some of .NET's better APIs (I would still rather use PyQt for GUI programming. Windows Forms has not improved.) to make a powerful development platform.
Dror Helper is a .NET developer who has been exploring development with IronPython and made a series of posts about his experiences. Here is an extract from his review:
One of the important aspects of learning new language is learning on the tools needed for development, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the authors didn’t forget to show the reader the available IDEs and libraries that he can use for development along with small tutorials and thoughts on their usage.

The book is a good read and manages to transfer the authors (Michael Foord and Christian Muirhead) experience and knowledge on IronPython.

So if you’re a .NET developer that wants to learn what dynamic programming is all about or a CPython developer looking for a way to enter the .NET world you really want to read this book
Programming can be an esoteric art at times, but even I was surprised by the intro to this blog entry:
Have I written my review of the book, "IronPython in Action"? I don't remember. Not that I want to, giving away all the secrets tucked away in the book that led my buddies to discover the truth, the hidden language, the 3D helix that governs the activities of this sector of the universe and leads to temporary vortices we call ourselves.
I don't guarantee enlightenment if you read IronPython in Action, but it good be an important step on your path...

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