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Automate the Boring Stuff with Python, 3rd Edition
Purchase options and add-ons
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 this work for you?
In this fully revised third edition of 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. Early chapters will teach you the fundamentals of Python through clear explanations and engaging examples. You’ll write your first Python program; work with strings, lists, dictionaries, and other data structures; then use regular expressions to find and manipulate text patterns.
Once you’ve mastered the basics, you’ll tackle projects that teach you to use Python to automate tasks like:
- Searching the web, downloading content, and filling out forms
- Finding, extracting, and manipulating text and data in files and spreadsheets
- Copying, moving, renaming, or compressing saved files on your computerSplitting, merging, and extracting text from PDFs and Word documents
- Interacting with applications through custom mouse and keyboard macros
- Managing your inbox, unsubscribing from lists, and sending email or text notifications
New to this edition: All code and examples have been thoroughly updated. You’ll also find four new chapters on database integration, speech recognition, and audio and video editing, as well as 16 new programming projects and expanded coverage of developer techniques like creating command line programs.
Don’t spend your time on work a well-trained monkey could do. Even if you’ve never written a line of code, you can pass off that grunt work to your computer. Learn how in Automate the Boring Stuff with Python.
- ISBN-101718503407
- ISBN-13978-1718503403
- Edition3rd
- PublisherNo Starch Press
- Publication dateMay 20, 2025
- LanguageEnglish
- Dimensions7.13 x 1.25 x 9.25 inches
- Print length672 pages
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From the Publisher
About the Author
Al Sweigart is a software developer, fellow of the Python Software Foundation, and author of several popular programming books including The Big Book of Small Python Projects, Beyond the Basic Stuff with Python, Coding with Minecraft, and The Recursive Book of Recursion (all from No Starch Press).
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| Customer Reviews |
4.6 out of 5 stars 169
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4.8 out of 5 stars 2,482
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4.7 out of 5 stars 200
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4.6 out of 5 stars 60
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5.0 out of 5 stars 6
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4.7 out of 5 stars 832
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| Price | $21.49$21.49 | $27.53$27.53 | $29.30$29.30 | $43.91$43.91 | $29.72$29.72 | $19.94$19.94 |
| User experience level | Beginner | Beginner | Beginner | Beginner | Intermediate | Experienced |
| For readers who want | A gentle, kid-friendly introduction to Python | A fast-paced, thorough introduction to Python | A practical guide to using Python for automating tedious tasks | To use Python for research, simulation, and collaboration | To deepen their skills and explore creative applications of Python | To explore the stealthier side of programming |
| Compatible with Python version | Python 3 | Python 3 | Python 3 | Python 3 | Python 3 | Python 3 |
| Special features | Kid-friendly, full-color code and illustrations | Covers Django, matplotlib and plotly, and pygame | Covers working with files en masse, automating emails and texts, scraping the web, and more | Covers Anaconda, Spyder, Jupyter Notebooks, JupyterLab | Covers matplotlib, Numpy, OpenGL, Pillow, Arduino, and Raspberry Pi | Covers Python 3.x, Volatility Framework,ctypes, struct, lxml, BeautifulSoup |
| Page count | 368 pages | 511 pages | 592 pages | 744 pages | 448 pages | 216 pages |
About the Publisher
No Starch Press has published the finest in geek entertainment since 1994, creating both timely and timeless titles like Python Crash Course, Python for Kids, How Linux Works, and Hacking: The Art of Exploitation. An independent, San Francisco-based publishing company, No Starch Press focuses on a curated list of well-crafted books that make a difference. They publish on many topics, including computer programming, cybersecurity, operating systems, and LEGO. The titles have personality, the authors are passionate experts, and all the content goes through extensive editorial and technical reviews. Long known for its fun, fearless approach to technology, No Starch Press has earned wide support from STEM enthusiasts worldwide.
Editorial Reviews
Review
"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 Author
Product details
- Publisher : No Starch Press
- Publication date : May 20, 2025
- Edition : 3rd
- Language : English
- Print length : 672 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1718503407
- ISBN-13 : 978-1718503403
- Item Weight : 2.13 pounds
- Dimensions : 7.13 x 1.25 x 9.25 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #12,501 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Al Sweigart is a software developer and tech book author living in Houston. He has written several programming books for beginners, including Automate the Boring Stuff with Python. His books are freely available under a Creative Commons license at his website https://inventwithpython.com.
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Top reviews from the United States
- 5 out of 5 stars
EXPAND YOUR SOFTWARE EXPERIENCE WITH PYTHON!
Reviewed in the United States on September 2, 2026I am a programmer; mostly, C programming, and believe it, or not, assembly language, for embedded systems.
This book is wonderful for somebody like me, who has done very little programming in python, and wants to use Python, for macro operations; like email email clean up.
This book is a great visual into the libraries that make Python so powerful and usable and applicable, and on top of that is a great python application and practicality influencer.
You will get through this book so much faster. If you also get the workbook, that is a follow one to this book. Highly recommend both books – good luck, stick with it, be tenacious with your line by line analysis of what you’re doing and what you’re being told to do, and in no time, you’ll be flying and getting things done with Python.
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CancelReport - 5 out of 5 stars
Great book for beginners in Python programming
Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2026I love this book! If you're new to Python programming or are looking for a refresher, this book is perfect. The way the author explains how everything works makes learning Python so much easier. The book shows you what you need to download to start programming, it has activities for you to try out, and it takes you through each project step by step.
This book holds your hand and leads you through the basics of Python programming, and I love that.
If you learn better through reading and you want to learn how to use Python, this book is it!
6 people found this helpfulSending feedback...Sending feedback...HelpfulThank you for your feedback.Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try againThanks, we'll investigate in the next few days.Sorry, We failed to report this review. Please try againWe'll check if this review meets our community guidelinesOpens in a new tab. If it doesn't, we'll remove it.
CancelReport - 4 out of 5 stars
Great
Reviewed in the United States on August 26, 2026Great for beginners, but don't get stuck in tutorial hell!
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CancelReport - 5 out of 5 stars
Good Quality
Reviewed in the United States on June 21, 2026Nice products
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CancelReport - 5 out of 5 stars
Great book for programmer newbies!
Reviewed in the United States on January 25, 2026If you want to learn python programming through a trail of easy to understand breadcrumbs, this is the book for you. My goal was to learn enough to write stock trading code and I’ve come a long way in two months. Admittedly, I get help from ChatGPT but understand what’s going on thanks to putting in the time reading and doing the interactive exercises in this book.
2 people found this helpfulSending feedback...Sending feedback...HelpfulThank you for your feedback.Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try againThanks, we'll investigate in the next few days.Sorry, We failed to report this review. Please try againWe'll check if this review meets our community guidelinesOpens in a new tab. If it doesn't, we'll remove it.
CancelReport - 5 out of 5 stars
Great for beginners with Python
Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2026Very clear on the what, why and how to for Puthon
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CancelReport - 5 out of 5 stars
Automate the Boring Stuff with Python
Reviewed in the United States on March 1, 2026Great into book for those looking to learn Python. I especially like the associated projects and the way they help reinforce the materials covered.
One person found this helpfulSending feedback...Sending feedback...HelpfulThank you for your feedback.Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try againThanks, we'll investigate in the next few days.Sorry, We failed to report this review. Please try againWe'll check if this review meets our community guidelinesOpens in a new tab. If it doesn't, we'll remove it.
CancelReport - 5 out of 5 stars
Must Have Python Coding Book
Reviewed in the United States on February 14, 2026Coding in Python and/or machine machine learning then this book is a must have.
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Top reviews from other countries
ID5 out of 5 starsA good guide for Python Programming
Reviewed in Canada on June 17, 2026This is a good guide and reference book for python . Good for beginners and may act as an handy reference for programmers proficient in python . Recommended for both beginners and advanced users .
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Torbjörn Persson5 out of 5 starsBra rederens
Reviewed in Sweden on March 30, 2026Den verkar bra. Jag har dock inte läst den från pärm till pärm. Den här typen av litteratur använder hag som referebslittertur.
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Amazon Customer5 out of 5 starsMuito bom!
Reviewed in Brazil on November 9, 2025Ótimo.
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Diego Fernández Melcón5 out of 5 starsLa razón para aprender Python
Reviewed in Spain on May 18, 2026Este libro es culpable de que ahora esté totalmente enganchado con Python. No es el mejor libro para aprender Python; es el mejor libro para enteder porqué aprender Python.
This book, more than teach you Python, explain you why you must learn Python. The best part of it is not the explanation of the language, but the full set of applications developed in the second part of the book.
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Mihail Iliev5 out of 5 starsGreat books for returning to Python
Reviewed in Belgium on July 1, 2026I absolutely love this book. I spent 4-5 months learning how to code in Python around eight years ago. Then I almost never used it. But now I’m returning to coding and find that this books is excellent for the purpose. Great for quick reversion of the simplest things and then moving quickly onto intermediate-level topics and small projects.
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