Thursday, November 27, 2014

Practical Python and OpenCV: conclusion of the review

I own a lot of programming books and ebooks; with the exception of the Python Cookbook (1st and 2nd editions) and Code Complete, I don't think that I've come close to reading an entire book from cover to cover.  I write programs for fun, not for a living, and I almost never write reviews on my blog.  So why did I write one this time?

A while ago, I entered my email address to receive 10 emails meant as a crash course on OpenCV, using Python (of course), provided by Adrian Rosebrock.  The content of the emails and various posts they linked intrigued me. So, I decided to fork out some money and get the premium bundle which included an introductory book (reviewed in part 1), a Case Studies (partly reviewed in part 3), both of which include code samples and (as part of that package) free updates to future versions.  Included in the bundle was also a Ubuntu VirtualBox (reviewed in part 2) and a commitment by the author to respond quickly to emails - commitment that I have severely tested with no complaints.

As I mentioned, I program for fun, and I had fun going through the material covered in Practical Python and OpenCV.  I've also read through most of both books and tried a majority of the examples - something that is really rare for me.  On that basis alone, I thought it deserved a review.

Am I 100% satisfied with the Premium bundle I got with no idea about how it could be improved upon?  If you read the 3 previous parts, you know that the answer is no.  I have some slightly idiosynchratic tastes and tend to be blunt (I usually prefer to say"honest") in my assessments.

If I were 30 years younger, I might seriously consider getting into computer programming as a career and learn as much as I could about Machine Learning, Computer Vision and other such topics.  As a starting point, I would recommend to my younger self to go through the material covered in Practical Python and OpenCV, read the many interesting posts on Adrian Rosebrock's blog, as well as the Python tutorials on the OpenCV site itself.  I would probably recommend to my younger self to get just the Case Studies bundle (not including the Ubuntu VirtualBox): my younger self would have been too stubborn/self-reliant to feel like asking questions to the author and would have liked to install things on his computer in his own way.

My old self still feels the same way sometimes ...

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