This is exactly what the title promises. It is a book about what you should know before you start your development of your Python application, regardless of framework or toolkit you decide to choose. You may or may not agree with everything the author says, but his views are at least valid views and the coverage is as you may expect from such a large topic and sucha small book.

All in all, I think this is a vary valuable book for anyone new to Python development, as it covers the basics very well, and allows you to continue on your own and find more information, without invalidating everything else the author has to say.