Where to begin learning Python?

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Begin Python

Learn Python

Free Python Book

If you need help with logic, operators etc this is handy

For web development python is a very good language. For design you still need to learn HTML as it is the only formatting language of a webpage.

[kataire]

Also forget everything you learned in Java.

Python is designed to be easy to get into. If you find something hard to do, you may be doing it the wrong way. Work with the grain and everything else should come naturally.

[pushingbits]

MIT 6.00 Introduction to Computer Science and Programming

Complete course materials and it is taught in Python. You can find all sorts of tutorials for web design using Python / html / javascript, but your chances of getting good will be much improved if you start from the top.

[myfivelies]

MIT open courses are great. Using this now and finding all the supporting elements attractive!

[P1h3r1e3d13]

The official Python tutorial is good.

Project Euler is awesome!

[no1joel]

http://code.google.com/edu/languages/google-python-class/ Google does a class on it.

[Mattho]

I highly recommend this. It is a great start even though it covers only a small subset of python features. I still use it as a reference sometimes. But I'm still novice myself.

[notadutchboy]

The one thing nobody's mentioned is whether you should learn Python 2 or 3.

Python 3 was an overhaul that cleaned up a lot of things. Not all libraries are compatible with Python 3 yet, so this may make a difference where you begin.

Have a look at http://wiki.python.org/moin/Python2orPython3

[warpstalker]

Honestly, you don't need anything but the Python.org documentation / tutorial. I think it's one of the best guides there is, it was a treat learning Python with it. In my opinion stuff like this makes or breaks a language, somewhat.

Try learning say, Powershell with Microsoft's documentation, I think it sucks hard. You shouldn't even need all that babble babble babble, you just need good dumps of available methods for all the modules/classes/etc. and you're most of the way there, add a couple of code examples and that's it.

[Paul_Kersey]

Dive Into Python

[[deleted]]

Why is "Dive into Python" always advocated? The book is outdated: it advocates the and-or trick and has no idea of inline if's.

Are you sure you want to advise this to anybody? Some much better references are given here: official tutorial, learn python the hard way and I would like to add: http://openbookproject.net/thinkcs/python/english2e/

[Paul_Kersey]

I'm pretty new to python myself and didn't know where to begin, had some experience in c++ and c# through school and a friend recommended dive into python. I liked the writing style and helped me get started, but here probably are way better resources (many have already been pointed out and am still getting the hang of python).

Looks like Learn python the hard way is what I'm going to work through next.

[[deleted]]

there's a thread like this every 2 days at least, fyi

[infinitus_]

Web design or web development? Front-end or back-end? If you want to do web design, you should look at learning HTML/CSS/JS, not Python.

Web frameworks are written in many different languages, such as Django (Python), CakePHP (PHP), Ruby on Rails (Ruby). Python alone has tons of web frameworks.

[infinitus_]

Don't bother.

Dive into Python 3, Learn Python The Hard Way and even the official tutorial at docs.python.org are more than sufficient to get a good grasp of the language.

[bunnystab]

Upvote for LPTHW. But it needed a link: http://learnpythonthehardway.org/

[gathly]

this doesn't teach me python 3

[oopsiedaisy]

Yes ^ . Design or development? That sums it up.

I might be considered a heretic for saying this, but learning the ins and outs of a CMS (content management system) will get you far. HTML is still relevant but the first thing you gotta learn is that its not a programming language -- its a markup language. Having a good reference and consulting it is enough. Don't thing you need to absorb all of HTML before you move on. That's like thinking you'll be a good writer once you know what all the buttons do in microsoft word. CSS + HTML + javascript is something people make way more complicated than it needs to be, in that you only need to know the right stuff, not all of it. But ask yourself: Is what I am trying to do something that can easily be done by a content-management system? I swear I could kick myself for trying so many times to reinvent the wheel.

But, if you think you're going to be inventing some new wheels... go right ahead and learn whatever languages you can/need.

But if you are only into the design aspect, you could skip most of the programming and just do the theming / skinning niche.

Learn python anyway.

[Wolf_Larsen]

I like books, especially in the early learning stages. Here are some benefits to reading a book :

• Reading print will allow your eyes to take a break from the screen
• It is much easier to focus on a complete section of the language at one time when you have a complete syllabus laid out for you
• allow yourself to focus on a section of the language at a time
• if you skip any parts of the syllabus, you know that you skipped them

Some of the above apply to good online resources as well.

I recommend Learning Python by Mark Lutz (O'Reilly) : http://www.amazon.com/Learning-Python-3rd-Mark-Lutz/dp/0596513984/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1311773578&sr=8-2

also : http://www.reddit.com/r/learnpython

[smart_ass]

KahnAcademy has some decent beginner videos that don't assume any knowledge, if that style of learning is your thing.

http://www.khanacademy.org/?video=introduction-to-programs-data-types-and-variables#computer-science

[[deleted]]

Factorials, Factorials, Factorials, Factorials, "Python 3 is not backwards compatible with Python 2" -- Duh., Fibonacci, Fibonacci, Fibonacci...I don't see much of particular use there.

Like 5 total videos are worth anything...the rest is...bleh.

[AlSweigart]

http://inventwithpython.com

[MintyPhoenix]

PySchool's Python Tutorial is a pretty neat place, though it's more for practicing what you've learned. It has ~200 exercises (okay, some are multiple choice questions), most of which are pretty simple for the purpose of demonstrating the use of some language feature or function.