I agree with you about the non idomatic python code - It reminds me of my earliest attempts at python after switching from matlab. I saw a lot of criticism tha

I agree with you about the non idomatic python code - It reminds me of my earliest attempts at python after switching from matlab. I saw a lot of criticism that PCI should have been done in pseudocode and I wonder if the book's coding style was a deliberate attempt to satisfy this complaint. I think that any maturing field needs a hierarchy of explanations that go progressively deeper into the subject - the explanations of the second law of thermodynamics that you get in freshman chemistry course are superficial compared to what you would deal with in a graduate course, but this doesn't mean that chem101 should be taught at the grad level, or that it is pointless to teach freshmen about the second law. The real danger is if you lie or misrepresent the facts in an attempt to simplify. I'm sure there are some errors and falsehoods in PCI but I didn't see anything too bad in the one day that I've had the book. Learning API's by reading the docs sounds like trying to learn english by reading the dictionary - It's just my personal preference, but I feel that I learn more effectively by reading real source code that works (even if it is horribly written)