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List:       python-authors
Subject:    Re: [Python-authors] Introduction and a Question
From:       Steve Holden <steve () holdenweb ! com>
Date:       2009-12-17 20:50:53
Message-ID: 4B2A99AD.80503 () holdenweb ! com
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Marty Alchin wrote:
> Hello all,
> 
> I'm an author working with Apress on my second title, Pro Python. It
> expands on the Python-level chapter I included in my first title, Pro
> Django, which received overwhelmingly positive feedback. Basically,
> I'm writing for people who are already familiar with Python, but
> haven't looked into some of its more advanced features, like
> decorators, magic methods, metaclasses and the like. I'm trying to
> focus heavily on examples throughout, finishing up with a complete
> build-up of a Django-esque declarative framework for processing CSV
> files.
> 
> One of the main questions I find myself asking, though, is how much
> should I repeat from other works? I don't want to rewrite the wheel,
> but I'm having trouble drawing the line. For example, chapter 2 of Pro
> Django covered my Python features, focusing mostly on decorators and
> metaclasses. I obviously want to cover those same topics in Pro
> Python, but I tried very hard to expand on them in much greater
> detail--particularly with regard to the examples--so that it wasn't a
> direct copy. I also included a really basic plugin framework I wrote
> up on my blog a couple years ago, with some added features and a whole
> new write-up.
> 
> The frustrating thing about doing this is that I feel like I'm torn
> between copying something that's already available and throwing away
> something that's really good. Neither of them seems like a good way to
> go, so the answer must be somewhere in the middle, but I'm having a
> lot of trouble finding it. Is it enough to rewrite the description of
> a piece of code, so that it's perhaps more clear or more relevant to
> the audience at hand? Or is the author expected to expand on the code
> itself in some way, offering up some unique value (feature?
> optimization? simplification?) that wasn't available in the original?
> 
I'd repeat the material so that new readers can understand it without
being required to read the other book.

regards
 Steve
-- 
Steve Holden           +1 571 484 6266   +1 800 494 3119
Holden Web LLC                 http://www.holdenweb.com/
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