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Automate the Boring Stuff with Python, 3rd Edition

Author Al Sweigart
Paperback
$59.99 US
No Starch | No Starch Press
7"W x 9-1/4"H | 13 oz | 24 per carton
On sale May 20, 2025 | 592 Pages | 9781718503403
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The bestselling introduction to Python programming, revised to include the latest Python features, improved explanations, and new chapters about databases and sound files.

If you’ve ever spent hours renaming files or updating hundreds of spreadsheet cells, you know how tedious tasks like these can be. But what if you could have your computer do them for you?

In this fully revised edition of the best-selling classic Automate the Boring Stuff with Python, you’ll learn how to use Python to write programs that do in minutes what would take you hours to do by hand—no prior programming experience required. You'll learn the basics of coding in Python and explore the language’s’s rich library of modules for performing specific tasks, like scraping data from websites, searching for text across multiple files, and merging, watermarking, or encrypting PDFs.

The third edition includes:

  • Expanded coverage of developer techniques, like creating command line programs
  • Updated examples and new projects
  • Additional chapters about working with SQLite databases, speech-recognition technology, video and audio editing, and text-to-speech capabilities
  • Simplified explanations (based on reader feedback) of beginner programming concepts, like loops and conditionals

Even if you've never written a line of code, Automate the Boring Stuff with Python, 3rd Edition will teach you how to make your computer take on tedious tasks and do all your grunt work—the way it should be!
Al Sweigart is a professional software developer who teaches programming to kids and adults. Sweigart has written several bestselling programming books for beginners, including Invent Your Own Computer Games with Python, Cracking Codes with Python, and Coding with Minecraft, as well as for intermediate-level programmers, like Beyond the Basic Stuff with Python and The Recursive Book of Recursion (all from No Starch Press).
Al Sweigart View titles by Al Sweigart
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Part I: Python Programming Basics
Chapter 1: Python Basics
Chapter 2: If-Else and Flow Control
Chapter 3: Loops
Chapter 4: Functions
Chapter 5: Lists
Chapter 6: Debugging
Chapter 7: Dictionaries and Structuring Data
Chapter 8: Strings and Text Editing

Part II: Automating Tasks
Chapter 9: Text Pattern Matching with Regular Expressions
Chapter 10: Reading and Writing Files
Chapter 11: Organizing Files
Chapter 12: Designing and Deploying Command Line Programs
Chapter 13: Web Scraping
Chapter 14: Excel Spreadsheets
Chapter 15: Google Sheets
Chapter 16: SQLite Databases
Chapter 17: PDFs and Word Documents
Chapter 18: CSV, JSON, YAML, and TOML Files
Chapter 19: Keeping Time, Scheduling Tasks, and Launching Programs
Chapter 20: Sending Email and Text Messages
Chapter 21: Manipulating Images
Chapter 22: Controlling the Keyboard and Mouse with GUI Automation
Chapter 23: Working with Sound Files, Speech Recognition, and Text-to-Speech
Chapter 24: Working with Audio, Video, and Webcams

​​​​​​​Appendix A: Installing Third Party Modules
Appendix B: Running Programs
Appendix C: Answers to Practice Questions
Interior Spread
Interior Spread
Interior Spread
Praise for the second edition of Automate the Boring Stuff with Python:

"With lessons on how to use Python to program Excel spreadsheets, crawl websites, parse PDFs and Word documents, send emails, and other productivity-boosting task automation, it's a stellar resource for office workers, academics, and administrators."
—Mashable

"I think many educational resources jump levels way too quickly. One of the best I ever used was Automate the Boring Stuff with Python - that book stayed at the right level the whole way!"
—Oscar Baruffa, @OscarBaruffa

About

The bestselling introduction to Python programming, revised to include the latest Python features, improved explanations, and new chapters about databases and sound files.

If you’ve ever spent hours renaming files or updating hundreds of spreadsheet cells, you know how tedious tasks like these can be. But what if you could have your computer do them for you?

In this fully revised edition of the best-selling classic Automate the Boring Stuff with Python, you’ll learn how to use Python to write programs that do in minutes what would take you hours to do by hand—no prior programming experience required. You'll learn the basics of coding in Python and explore the language’s’s rich library of modules for performing specific tasks, like scraping data from websites, searching for text across multiple files, and merging, watermarking, or encrypting PDFs.

The third edition includes:

  • Expanded coverage of developer techniques, like creating command line programs
  • Updated examples and new projects
  • Additional chapters about working with SQLite databases, speech-recognition technology, video and audio editing, and text-to-speech capabilities
  • Simplified explanations (based on reader feedback) of beginner programming concepts, like loops and conditionals

Even if you've never written a line of code, Automate the Boring Stuff with Python, 3rd Edition will teach you how to make your computer take on tedious tasks and do all your grunt work—the way it should be!

Creators

Al Sweigart is a professional software developer who teaches programming to kids and adults. Sweigart has written several bestselling programming books for beginners, including Invent Your Own Computer Games with Python, Cracking Codes with Python, and Coding with Minecraft, as well as for intermediate-level programmers, like Beyond the Basic Stuff with Python and The Recursive Book of Recursion (all from No Starch Press).
Al Sweigart View titles by Al Sweigart

Table of Contents

Part I: Python Programming Basics
Chapter 1: Python Basics
Chapter 2: If-Else and Flow Control
Chapter 3: Loops
Chapter 4: Functions
Chapter 5: Lists
Chapter 6: Debugging
Chapter 7: Dictionaries and Structuring Data
Chapter 8: Strings and Text Editing

Part II: Automating Tasks
Chapter 9: Text Pattern Matching with Regular Expressions
Chapter 10: Reading and Writing Files
Chapter 11: Organizing Files
Chapter 12: Designing and Deploying Command Line Programs
Chapter 13: Web Scraping
Chapter 14: Excel Spreadsheets
Chapter 15: Google Sheets
Chapter 16: SQLite Databases
Chapter 17: PDFs and Word Documents
Chapter 18: CSV, JSON, YAML, and TOML Files
Chapter 19: Keeping Time, Scheduling Tasks, and Launching Programs
Chapter 20: Sending Email and Text Messages
Chapter 21: Manipulating Images
Chapter 22: Controlling the Keyboard and Mouse with GUI Automation
Chapter 23: Working with Sound Files, Speech Recognition, and Text-to-Speech
Chapter 24: Working with Audio, Video, and Webcams

​​​​​​​Appendix A: Installing Third Party Modules
Appendix B: Running Programs
Appendix C: Answers to Practice Questions

Photos

Interior Spread
Interior Spread
Interior Spread

Praise

Praise for the second edition of Automate the Boring Stuff with Python:

"With lessons on how to use Python to program Excel spreadsheets, crawl websites, parse PDFs and Word documents, send emails, and other productivity-boosting task automation, it's a stellar resource for office workers, academics, and administrators."
—Mashable

"I think many educational resources jump levels way too quickly. One of the best I ever used was Automate the Boring Stuff with Python - that book stayed at the right level the whole way!"
—Oscar Baruffa, @OscarBaruffa

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