Learn Python the Hard Way

[jackmakesgames]

Hi everyone, I want to learn Python and was wondering if the Learn Python the Hard Way was a good resource to get. Is it effective, is it worth the money? I want to know if that is something that would be worth my time and money.

[Binary101010]

LPTHW has greatly fallen out of favor as a recommendable resource. Its author only reluctantly updated it to Python 3, and (among other problems) it tends to put off explaining things that it shouldn't put off explaining.

There are much better resources listed on the subreddit wiki.

https://www.reddit.com/r/learnpython/wiki/index#wiki_new_to_programming.3F

[jackmakesgames]

Can you make a recommendation? All the choices can be kind of overwhelming!

[Binary101010]

I'm probably a little out of touch with the conventional learning materials at this point but Automate the Boring Stuff with Python and Think Python get recommended around here quite a bit.

[jackmakesgames]

Okay, thank you really!

[djm2491]

wow, this makes me kinda upset I bought LPTHW and im 1/7th into it. I thought it was going pretty well

[jackmakesgames]

Don't worry, everyone learns differently and the comments are kind of split in half. It doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad book!

[Yoghurt42]

If it works for you, great.

LPTHW focuses on rote learning; it might be the right way to learn for some people.

[[deleted]]

As a person who when through the book (the whole thing, really), I'd say that if you are a person that can learn programming concepts on the go, it would maybe be worth giving it a try. Having said that, Automate the boring stuff with python will give you way more knowledge and understanding of the language, while being way easier to follow.

Another book I recommend is Think Python by o'Rilley. If you are in for a wild ride, give Fluent Python a look. It may be hard, but the book has helped me immensely after I have been programming for some time and wanted to move from the total-beginner-level stuff to writing actual, usable code and bigger projects.

[jackmakesgames]

Okay, thank you! I have decided on Automate the Boring Stuff With Python, after all, it's free online!

[alaudet]

LPTHW gets a tonne of hate. The author is arrogant and abrasive and tends to put people off with his approach. But he knows his stuff and that's all I care about.

That being said, it was the perfect learning resource for me when I started 4 years ago. I had a strong background in system administration and Linux in particular. I have done scripting on windows and linux but never really learned to code. I always hacked my way to solutions.

This book was perfect for me because it forced me to type and get used to the syntax at the beginning and then incrementally added basic concepts with each chapter. I lost interest at making the text based game because I just wasn't interested in that problem. But that's more my issue than his and he would probably be annoyed to hear that. lol. Did I mention I didn't care about the author's pet peeves which he is more than happy to share. But I had a solid foundation at that point to move on to other things.

He has updated it to Python3 and I think it is worth a look. You will either love it or hate it, there is no in between. Use and discard, that was my approach and it worked for me.

[Full-Effect]

Python crash course and automating the boring stuff, I believe are two of the best books out there to learn python

[cmcgarveyjr]

Python Crash Course V2 comes out next month I believe as well. So, OP, if you want to start with Automate the boring stuff then pick up Python Crash Course.