Mailing List Archive

On Sat, May 29, 1999 at 12:38:19PM -1000, Chuck & Amy Hoskins wrote:
> I just flat out need to learn how to use Python. I am really interested in
> getting into programming and I don't find many sites to help out the common
> Moron (myself in this case). Please help!!!

Try online tutorial (part of official python documentations) at
http://www.python.org/doc

Python is a reasonable choice in that it has some convenient computer science
structures already builtin or available in libraries and has minimal keywords.
You have to buy all the python books and once you work through those, (being an
old-timer) I suggest you work through volume I of Knuth's opus on programming.
Other people will have more current suggestions, but no one will complain about
a Knuth recommendation. Embrace the object orientation of python but stay away
from GUI implementations for awhile.

On the negative side, as a glue language, Python work tends to require multiple
knowledge sets to do a lot of stuff. That is, you have to know Python, a lot
of python libraries, and whatever you want to glue in. So there is a sense
that the more you know about everything, the better Python programmer you will
be. And you cannot usually find what you need to know about other stuff on the
web.

As a not very good Python programmer, I think if you just work through the
Python books people will talk to you here with no problems. They even talk to
me.

Chuck & Amy Hoskins wrote:

> I just flat out need to learn how to use Python. I am really interested in
> getting into programming and I don't find many sites to help out the common
> Moron (myself in this case). Please help!!!
>
> Chuck

--
Max M. Stalnaker stalnaker@acm.org
Astar Computer Consulting: Networking and Custom Accounting Software

Daniel Faulkner <m01ymu00@cwcom.net> wrote:
: Chuck & Amy Hoskins wrote:

:> I just flat out need to learn how to use Python. I am really interested in
:> getting into programming and I don't find many sites to help out the common
:> Moron (myself in this case). Please help!!!
:>
:> Chuck

: This is about the best choice you could of made as Python is a very easy
: language but I suppose this is why you decided to use Python well first down
: load python from www.python.org (use version1.5.2b2 as this includes Tkinter,
: graphical interface)

Just a note: you should download version 1.5.2, not 1.5.2b2 which is a
beta version. Python 1.5.2 was released 7 weeks ago (April 13th). All
releases of Python include Tkinter, but none include Tcl/Tk (but there
are links to download that as well).

: and read through the tutorial and just start creating some programs as a
: project and if you come into any problems just ask some one at the python
: newsgroup.
: The graphical part is some thing not to use at the beginning (also there is
: not proper manual for it but there is a survival manual at the python home page
: some where) but do look at some of the code used in example programs. To show
: you what Python does try downloading grail from
: http://monty.cnri.reston.va.us/grail/ and pysol
: which you will find some where. There is a quick tutorial at
: http://www.troubleshooters.com/codecorn/python/pptut.htm
: I hope this helps if you want any help feel free to email me (even though i
: have only a few months of experience)

There is also the http://www.python.org/Html.html which has a number of
links to useful beginner information. Two mailing lists exist for people
learning Python as well: python-help (help@python.org) and the tutor
mailing list (http://www.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor).

The book _Programming Python_ contains a good lengthy discussion on using
Tkinter. And Aaron Watters' _Internet Programming with Python_ explains
another Python windowing system, WPY. Both are very good books but
are a little dated. _Learning Python_ is more up-to-date.

-Arcege

Max M. Stalnaker wrote in message <3751885A.DCF055D6@acm.org>...

>You have to buy all the python books and once you work through those,
(being an
>old-timer) I suggest you work through volume I of Knuth's opus on
programming.
>Other people will have more current suggestions, but no one will complain
about
>a Knuth recommendation. Embrace the object orientation of python but stay
away
>from GUI implementations for awhile.


Knuth's great, but I *wouldn't* suggest it to someone just starting
programming. It's for people who want to make programming their life's work
and who are happy reading examples in assembly code, happy with mathematical
analyses of algorithms, happy to read thousands of pages of deeply
thoughtful thought, admittedly crystalline but sometimes very dense prose. I
don't think even Knuth would suggest that his books are for beginners.

Get Learning Python if you like the look of it. Then perhaps buy Kernighan
and Pike's Practice Of Programming - it doesn't have any Python in, but
it's an excellent introduction to the issues that matter whatever language
you're using, which is what Max rightly suggests that you need. It gives a
fast intro to data structures and covers program design, debugging,
readability, efficiency. But you can read it in days instead of the months
and years that Knuth demands to really understand.

Jonathan Coupe, XWare

Max M. Stalnaker wrote in message <3751885A.DCF055D6@acm.org>...
>You have to buy all the python books and once you work through those,
>(being an old-timer) I suggest you work through volume I of Knuth's opus
>on programming. Other people will have more current suggestions, but no
>one will complain about a Knuth recommendation. Embrace the object
>orientation of python but stay away from GUI implementations for awhile.


It's really sad that I live in China where I cannot get
any Python book. That's why I "hate" amazon.com and
oreilly.com and think mcp.com is better.(Yes, am poor:)
Ok, okey, just kidding. I really appreciate those *ONLINE*
documents anyways. But it's tough <cough, cough> to learn
a language through the Language Reference. :(
Maybe that's why I really *LOVE* Linux, Python, et al.
a.k.a Open kiddies! Great! Not only open but ONLINE. Not
only online but FREE (Both in Free beer and Free speech
context:)

I've read Guido's paper on everybody-programming. Like
his idea on somewhat making a better learning environment
for people. Wait to see Programming in Python go online. :)

--zhaoway
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/http://mud.jlonline.com/~zhaoway\ Ãƹ޴¬
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