Mark Lutz is an Ex-Trainer

Mark Lutz no longer provides Python training. After teaching hundreds of Python classes over a training career which spanned a decade and a half, he ceased his training operations on August 19, 2011, his last class date. However, he continues to maintain an active role in the Python world through his best-selling Python books.

Training History

All told, in the 15 years from 1997 through 2011, Mark taught some 250 Python classes to roughly 4,000 students. His classes were held in the US, Europe, Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico, and his clients represented a wide variety of software domains. Though of only historical relevance today, the following links provide more details:

• Mark's former training web page is available here.
• Lists of the classes he taught and their locations can be found here.
• His bio and (now very out of date) resume live here and here.
• Why stop training? See About this data on this page.

Book Alternatives

Although Mark no longer teaches live classes, much of both the content and spirit of his classes lives on in his two primary books, available from O'Reilly Media and book sellers worldwide:

	The language fundamentals book Learning Python 4th Edition directly mirrors the majority of his 3 day classes.
	The applications book Programming Python 4th Edition reflects his more advanced topics and class sessions.

Learning Python in particular both was shaped by and helped to shape Mark's standard 3-day training sessions over the years. Although it does not provide the live interaction of a class, because the book is roughly a self-paced and more in-depth analog to the classes, it serves as a viable alternative to those seeking a first Python learning resource.

Programming Python provides a follow-up for readers who wish to move on to explore Python's roles in common application domains, such as GUIs, the Web, databases, and text. In addition, Mark's third book, Python Pocket Reference, provides a reference-only supplemental companion to the other two books.

Together, Mark's books have sold some 300,000 copies as of 2011, are available in multiple languages, and form a 3-volume set of related Python documentation which spans 3,000 pages. For more book resources, see Mark's book web site.

About Python

Python itself continues to enjoy an active and vigorous community today. It is generally considered to be one of the top 5 or 10 most widely used programming languages in world, and is still growing in popularity by most metrics, including conference attendance, book sales, Web presence as tracked by the TIOBE index, and volume of open source contributions as measured by Ohloh.net.

There are hundreds (or thousands) of Python resources on the Web. For more information, either run a search or browse these links:

• All things Pythonic: its main web site, and site traffic.
• The Community page: conferences, user groups, and other training providers.
• Python history: the old timer's blog; pages from Mark's archives here and here.
• A few of the old articles and interviews still online: from 2004, 2007, and 2008.
• Python future: some notes from the trenches in 2012.
• An early post from the start of all the troubles...

A Word of Thanks

In closing, I wish to step out of third-person narrative just long enough to thank all the many students and organizations who played a part in my long training career. It's not an exaggeration to say that you taught me how to teach. My former classes, as well as my ongoing book projects, owe much to your feedback, humor, and support.