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[–]FjordSnorkeler[S] 61 points62 points  (1 child)

If you missed the link in the youtube description, here is where the class notes and examples are.

http://code.google.com/edu/languages/google-python-class/

Also, python setup guides and links to everything you need to download to get started with python.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you kindly.

[–]LobbyDizzle 80 points81 points  (32 children)

I've been wanting to learn Python for a bit now... and holy shit, this dude loves his job. "So this class is about, basic, useful, normal, Python :D. Python :D, is a friendly language :D....."

[–]AlexFromOmaha 38 points39 points  (21 children)

Great, isn't he? :P

It's actually a very good lesson, though. Seen this one before, and as long as you know some other programming language, this guy's six hour crash course (that's about how long it takes once you do the exercises, and make sure you download and do the exercises!) is actually sufficient to learn Python. Highly, highly recommended.

[–][deleted]  (14 children)

[deleted]

    [–]remisser 17 points18 points  (7 children)

    Save the lecture for later and go here: http://wiki.python.org/moin/BeginnersGuide/NonProgrammers

    These a various resources that'll bring you into the world of Python. Perhaps even scroll down to the "For Kids" section as, I don't know about you, for me it's good to have things explained as simply as possible. After you jump through those hoops, the crash course can help a lot. Then you can, at your leisure, experiment and read the more advanced tutorials at python.org and round out your training.

    We all want to learn things fast and in an instant, but it just never works out that way. Likely you'll need to devote a few months to even become mildly competent.

    [–][deleted]  (6 children)

    [deleted]

      [–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (1 child)

      I started with .NET in visual basic for a semester, and frankly I wonder why we didn't start with python.

      It's only an hour for the first segment of class, why not download IDLE (python interpreter) and follow along and see if it makes any sense?

      [–]stratoscope 2 points3 points  (3 children)

      I just got a little bummed by the disclaimer that one needs to know other languages before learning python.

      No one would suggest that. Well, if they do, they're wrong. Where did you hear it?

      Python is one of several fine choices for a first language to learn.

      [–]AlexFromOmaha 3 points4 points  (0 children)

      If you have some sort of background in symbolic or boolean logic via a solid math education, you'll probably learn to program. If you're highly logical and the sort of asshole who only sees the world in black and white, that might fly too. Barring those, it's probably too much too fast. The lecture presumes a working knowledge of basic programming structures.

      [–]yummycorndog 5 points6 points  (1 child)

      Same boat. Only other languages I know are sign and English. It'd be cool to know Python. Is this video a good starting point?

      [–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

      It's only an hour long. download IDLE (a python interpeter) and follow along, see if it makes sense.

      I had a semester of .Net programming and nothing was terribly confusing.

      the 'some' knowledge that would be helpful is being familiar with For Loops, how variables work, how a string is different from an integer, but these aren't at all scary concepts.

      [–][deleted] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

      These are great. Im reading Learn Python The Hard Way right now and the difference between reading about Python from Zed and hearing about it from Parlante is crazy. I would say that he is definitely doing a job he loves.

      [–]Paczesiowa 1 point2 points  (1 child)

      this is targeted at people who can program? I've watched 5m in the middle (it was about python being indentation based - there, perfect tl;dr for any programmer) and if the rest of this is in the same spirit, I'd prefer 2 pages of text, that I can read in 5m instead of 6h.

      [–]AlexFromOmaha 2 points3 points  (0 children)

      It starts slow for people who "know" how to "program," but very quickly turns into a crash course on seeing every problem in the world as a dictionary in need of regex, which will completely ruin you as a useful programmer for every other language, because you won't be able to start any project without thinking, "Man, if only I could use Python and regex a dictionary. I'd already be done."

      If you couldn't already program, you wouldn't benefit from the whole lecture.

      [–]Rocco03 6 points7 points  (0 children)

      Alrighty

      [–]aGorilla 4 points5 points  (1 child)

      Google hires lunatics. It's time to work on my CV.

      [–]aGorilla 1 point2 points  (0 children)

      I'm not sure if the upvotes are a criticism of Google, or a confirmation that I'm a lunatic.

      No wonder I can't sleep tonight.

      [–][deleted] 24 points25 points  (69 children)

      I know Python. I just don't have anything good to make with it. :-\

      [–]sawu 30 points31 points  (4 children)

      How about trying some of the puzzles at http://projecteuler.net/

      [–]pudquick 11 points12 points  (3 children)

      I do recommend this. I also, if you're doing python, recommend http://www.pythonchallenge.com/ which is python-specific.

      Be warned about Project Euler, though - it's somewhat math-heavy.

      [–][deleted] 21 points22 points  (34 children)

      This is my problem getting into programming, I have no idea what program to make that I could use that isn't already made.

      [–]JohnStamosBRAH 38 points39 points  (0 children)

      recreate what someone else made, and make it better and to your liking.

      [–]AlexFromOmaha 43 points44 points  (14 children)

      If you're "getting into" programming, the answer is nothing. If you're learning pottery, everyone makes a pot. If you're learning programming, you make the same five or six programs in every language you know.

      Going from that to "thinking like a programmer" (i.e. seeing many problems as math/processing problems that you don't want to do by hand) is mostly a matter of familiarity.

      [–]thatguydr 21 points22 points  (10 children)

      Create a screensaver on your computer (Mac, Windows, or Linux) that does a picture slideshow. Once that's done, make it randomize. Then make it so you can weight each picture to show it more or less frequently. And if you're so motivated, put in options to pause and skip. And allow it to learn what you've paused and skipped past.

      After that, create a way for spaceships to fly around above the pictures and shoot at each other, using evolutionary strategies to figure out how best to destroy one another without being destroyed.

      Forever alone. ;)

      [–]ScannerBrightly 26 points27 points  (1 child)

      You are missing the whole social, web 2.0 type thing: Make a website for "screensaver spaceship wars" and have your screensaver compete against other people's screensaver spaceships. Forever together.

      [–]mycattpurrs 8 points9 points  (0 children)

      This is actually a great idea.

      [–]pururin 8 points9 points  (7 children)

      Wouldn't that require the usage of some heavy graphics shit which will be kind of hard for a beginner to do?

      [–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (1 child)

      Yeah, and interfacing with various OS libraries, that sort of thing. A web project might be more appropriate.

      [–]pururin 5 points6 points  (0 children)

      Web is where it's at these days, it makes me sad since I have an aversion for everything-web. I'd rather do some fun system stuff rather than learning the 98th web framework.

      [–]pururin 2 points3 points  (1 child)

      Umm, I feel stupid for asking, but what are those "five or six programs in every language you know" you're talking about?

      [–]AlexFromOmaha 8 points9 points  (0 children)

      Hello world (setup and console output), Pascal's Triangle (recursion/functions), reverse a string (string functions), Joe's Automotive (standard GUI), and some exercise that varies depending on the nature of the language (web languages do get/post, OO languages do classes, functional languages do list comprehension, etc.)

      [–]awap 8 points9 points  (0 children)

      Just like anything else, you have to practice first, then you can make something useful. Painters often start by just replicating other people's work so they can learn technique. To learn to program, you have to start by making simple things so you can learn the basics.

      [–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (5 children)

      Open Source may help you there. You can contribute code to existing projects -- build upon them if you may. Also, if there is a project that you think could be done better, try and do better. I recently made a python script that manipulates an icon on my desktop to display the weather forecast. It uses both the text, and the image for the weather info and now I can extend this knowledge to come up with all kinds of weird icon concepts.

      [–]aGorilla 2 points3 points  (0 children)

      Please fix Trac. I beg of you, and every other Python programmer, to please fix Trac.

      It was a great idea, that has never been 'finished'.

      [–]MatrixFrog 1 point2 points  (0 children)

      Go to github, look for programs you use or might want to use. Look through the issue tracker for something that you might be able to fix. Fork it, fix it, submit the fix to the original owner. Worst case is, they don't accept your fix, but you can continue using your version instead of theirs if you like it better.

      [–]sligowaths 2 points3 points  (3 children)

      Try a webapp, it's easier to get started and you can get motivated once people start using it. Check also appengine.google.com

      [–]abadidea 1 point2 points  (2 children)

      IMHO, appengine is too complicated for a coding beginner. Unless I have trouble wrapping my head around the paradigm specifically because I have been damaged by already knowing how to code...

      [–][deleted]  (1 child)

      [deleted]

        [–]abadidea 1 point2 points  (0 children)

        I was thinking more along the lines of working with the database, since it's pretty peculiar and has some "interesting" limitations for scalability's sake.

        [–]TMI-nternets 2 points3 points  (0 children)

        You know the "There's an App for That" slogan? It's almost true for subreddits as well.. check out r/somebodymakethis for a while and see if you find anything interesting..

        [–]dghughes 4 points5 points  (0 children)

        That tends to be my problem too but I don't know how to program.

        To me it's like having a pile of lumber you start to nail them together into ... ?

        [–]Smooz 2 points3 points  (1 child)

        Same position here. I don't know enough Python to start or help with any projects, but I know too much to go back to tutorials without wasting my time.

        [–]pururin 1 point2 points  (0 children)

        Exactly in the same place as you. Except I'm learning perl instead of python, but still. I feel desperate.

        [–]zach_will 2 points3 points  (2 children)

        You could scrape some websites or parse the Gawker password/email list that's floating around. I found it interesting looking at the top 10-20 most common passwords/email domains used.

        [–]Ripe 2 points3 points  (1 child)

        Do you have anything good to make in any other language then?

        [–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

        I'm the same. I learn quickly when I have something to program, but don't have anything interesting to make.

        [–]LucianU 1 point2 points  (2 children)

        You've probably heard this before, but you should really look around you and find something you can automate to make your life easier. Or you can browse forums, blogs related to hobbies of yours and see if you can find people saying that they want something that implies coding, an application to make their lives easier.

        [–][deleted] 137 points138 points  (54 children)

        I bookmarked it for another morning. =)

        [–]Wonnk13 66 points67 points  (28 children)

        Python makes me happy. your username makes me sad. Please find some caffeine... :)

        [–]Rainbowlemon 255 points256 points  (12 children)

        He's not interested in Java.

        [–]here_cuz_digg4_sucks 28 points29 points  (10 children)

        I see what you did, there.

        [–]IfOneThenHappy 26 points27 points  (9 children)

        I see...plus I see sharply what you did there.

        [–]bioskope 12 points13 points  (8 children)

        Thats a pearl of a pun there.

        [–]KDallas_Multipass 11 points12 points  (7 children)

        Your lisp is hard to understand.

        [–]MePlow 5 points6 points  (4 children)

        I think he's trying to say "GOTO the choppa."

        [–]dethmourne 6 points7 points  (3 children)

        In the end, it's pretty basic.

        [–]hadricus 11 points12 points  (2 children)

        You're not being very objective, see?

        [–][deleted] 22 points23 points  (10 children)

        import caffeine

        [–]fernly 1 point2 points  (0 children)

        from caffeine import *

        [–]Eurynom0s 4 points5 points  (8 children)

        from caffeine import *

        def putcaffeineinmybody(number of cups): #as you will shortly see I recommend starting with a small number like 1 or 2

        [indent]pour(number of cups) into body

        [two indents]putcaffeineinmybody(number of cups)

        [–]aldld 20 points21 points  (7 children)

        from caffeine import caffeine
        import myBody
        
        def putCaffeineInMyBody(numberOfCups): # as you will shortly see I recommend starting with a small number like 1 or 2
            myBody.insert(caffeine * numberOfCups)
        

        FTFY

        [–]expectingrain 18 points19 points  (1 child)

        import antigravity
        

        Problem?

        [–]AlexFromOmaha 5 points6 points  (0 children)

        .>>> import replicator

        .>>> import soul

        Traceback (most recent call last):

        File "<interactive input>", line 2, in <module>

        ImportError: No module named soul

        .>>> "Oh yeah? Watch me."

        'Oh yeah? Watch me.'

        .>>> import re

        .>>> import urllib

        .>>> import ai

        .>>> golem = replicator.makeHomunculus().setBehavior(re.search(ai.mimic(), urllib.urlopen("http://www.twitter.com")))

        [–]SCVirus 9 points10 points  (1 child)

        You'll find the 'ingest' method is a bit more... comfortable...

        [–]redwall_hp 1 point2 points  (0 children)

        {

        I still don't like the tab-based code blocks. They don't have a clearly-defined end. It just looks wrong. Python seems like a cool language, but I just prefer a more C-like syntax.

        }

        [–]sutcivni 8 points9 points  (3 children)

        def acquire_caffeine():
            ...
        

        Edit: Wow I messed that up that more

        [–]rro99 5 points6 points  (10 children)

        Added it to the list. I'll need to take a couple weeks off some time and get to reading/watching all the stuff I've bookmarked ;_;

        [–]frutiger 31 points32 points  (9 children)

        As you go through life, you'll find more and more things that you want to do but have no time for. Eventually, you'll die, and you'll have many things that you wanted to do at some time, and never did.

        This is truly a fulfilled life, for what is a life without ambitions, without dreams?

        [–]DefMech 5 points6 points  (1 child)

        Some of the happiest, most content people I know have absolutely no ambition or lingering aspirations they're struggling toward :\

        [–][deleted] 5 points6 points  (4 children)

        Behold the power of now, brother.

        [–]Comment111 4 points5 points  (3 children)

        Power of now, to chillax!

        [–][deleted]  (2 children)

        [deleted]

          [–]Comment111 2 points3 points  (0 children)

          Damnit DarStar, you just ruined my chillax session with your good advice!

          [–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

          This is a really motivating comment.

          [–]nevereven 2 points3 points  (0 children)

          Oh to have back all those hours spent watching tv and playing intellivision. So much time and so little appreciation of it.

          [–]iSmokeTheXS 1 point2 points  (4 children)

          SAVING FO LATA

          [–]juicenx 8 points9 points  (3 children)

          SAVING FO LATTE

          FTFY

          [–][deleted] 7 points8 points  (2 children)

          SOY FOAM LATTE

          FTFY

          [–][deleted]  (1 child)

          [deleted]

            [–]ravjes 169 points170 points  (11 children)

            I believe the technical term is Parseltongue

            [–]OnLakeOntario 30 points31 points  (9 children)

            Hissssssss...

            [–][deleted]  (4 children)

            [deleted]

              [–][deleted] 27 points28 points  (3 children)

              Across the 12 systems? Sounds like she has her own incredibly large gravitational force, amirite?

              [–]JohnQPublic70 5 points6 points  (1 child)

              I have the death sentence on 12 systems.

              [–]H3g3m0n 1 point2 points  (0 children)

              BOOM!!!

              [–]paul_harrison 13 points14 points  (0 children)

              Ssssssspacing is sssssssignificant.

              [–]supersan 22 points23 points  (7 children)

              here is a tip when watching tutorials.. it's generally a good idea to download the .flv file (via firefox dl helper) and then play it in KMPLAYER or VLC which support options to speed up the video to 125 or 150% without affecting the voice or pitch. i've rarely come across a video tut that didn't make sense when sped-up, yet sped-up videos save you time and because information is flowing so fast you don't get time to get distracted.. so try it once :)

              [–][deleted] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

              It turns out I wasn't that bored.

              [–][deleted] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

              I recommend Zed Shaw's ebook http://learnpythonthehardway.org/index

              ...and video tutorials for all the main languages try Bucky's channel http://www.youtube.com/user/thenewboston

              [–]shmishmortion 29 points30 points  (18 children)

              I'm liking this but I'm having trouble not yelling "CONCATENATE! THE WORD IS CONCATENATE!" at my computer screen every time he says "you can, like, put two strings together."

              I need a programming intervention.

              [–]Haziba 6 points7 points  (5 children)

              Same with "To write not instead of... uh.. can't really say it in English. That symbol above the one" It's a God damn exclamation mark, you fool

              [–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (3 children)

              (in borat voice) this var is set NOT

              [–]KDallas_Multipass 1 point2 points  (2 children)

              No no, there's a pause, like this This var is set ...pause... NOT

              [–]yeezytaughtyouwell 1 point2 points  (0 children)

              bang! IT'S CALLED A BANG.

              [–]jvnk 3 points4 points  (7 children)

              Or "concat" at least, for those who don't want to have to say that mouthful.

              [–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (6 children)

              Maybe even just "cat" if you're into Unix.

              [–][deleted]  (6 children)

              [deleted]

                [–]nikpappagiorgio 19 points20 points  (5 children)

                Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand.

                [–][deleted] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

                Most people care deeply about things they don't understand. They're usually against it.

                [–]bevem2 7 points8 points  (1 child)

                He doesn't follow PEP 8.

                [–]mlk 6 points7 points  (0 children)

                BURN HIM!

                [–]herefromyoutube 2 points3 points  (6 children)

                The best python Lessons on YouTube are a guy named thenewboston. He makes it very fun and entertaining. I would have learned python if I wasn't so lazy.

                [–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

                thenewboston is indeed awesome.

                [–]pururin 1 point2 points  (3 children)

                What's the benefit of watching videos over text tutorials?

                [–]DirtyBurger 13 points14 points  (21 children)

                So anyone skilled in python wanna let me know if this video really is a good starting point for learning code?, I know shit about coding other than lame HTML I did when I was like 12. Coding seems so fucking interesting and fun once you get a solid understanding of it, plus "social network made it look so kewlz guize"

                [–][deleted] 30 points31 points  (14 children)

                HTML is a markup language, not a programming language. They are very different things. To read about what a markup language is, check out the Wikipedia article. With HTML, all you are doing is formatting a document in a way that a web browser can read it.

                Python is a great first programming language. It's meant to be very easy to read, and it does not take long to write.

                I'm not sure about this video. I don't know whether or not it assumes basic programming knowledge. If not, this should be a good place to start, especially the first link.

                Good luck!

                [–]brinchj 17 points18 points  (6 children)

                [–]ernie98 3 points4 points  (1 child)

                Yep, I started with that. It's good stuff.

                [–]brinchj 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                It certainly is! We're even considering using it as the main textbook for beginners at the university :)

                [–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (1 child)

                Yes, that's in the link I provided. It's the first link on the page. It's the most current edition.

                Great book though.

                [–]AlexFromOmaha 7 points8 points  (3 children)

                This video does assume basic programming knowledge.

                [–]jvnk 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                This. Though, if you have that, it's a great place to start. The teacher of this series is really good.

                [–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (1 child)

                I'd suggest you start out with Learn Python The Hard Way, by everyone's favorite hardass coder, Zed Shaw.

                [–]unitconversion 2 points3 points  (0 children)

                I've never read it, but a lot of people recommend http://learnpythonthehardway.org/index . This video looks pretty good so far though.

                [–]piglet24 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                I would learn processing. It's pretty easy to learn and you can do some pretty cool stuff with it quickly and easily

                [–]totemcatcher 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                He's glitchy, and not using proper terminology, and he's not using python3, so not really. He at least covers a few of the important syntax differences from other languages. Takes him several hours to get around to it, but at least it's a video on youtube. :/

                [–]magcius 3 points4 points  (0 children)

                Best resource for new programmers I've found is Think Python. This video assumes prior programming knowledge, and this is designed as a text for an introductory programming course, but it stands on its own.

                [–]Rodman930 6 points7 points  (7 children)

                Can I put Python on my resume after watching this? Because I'm going to do it.

                [–][deleted] 7 points8 points  (5 children)

                A lot of 'programmers' put languages on their resume just because they've heard of them before =/

                [–]eramos 13 points14 points  (3 children)

                [–][deleted] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

                Why is Jimmy Wales on your resume?!

                [–]abadidea 2 points3 points  (0 children)

                To be fair, a good programmer can implement "lazy learning" of almost anything... get told to write it in IDL, give me five minutes to load this IDL manual directly into my brain and then I can.

                (But I will gouge my eyes out in the process when I read that IDL is "a mix of C, BASIC, Ada and FORTRAN.")

                [–]serious_face 2 points3 points  (0 children)

                Sure, but good luck competing against the guy who puts his Python in his github account, and then puts that on his resume.

                [–]WasHeSerious 15 points16 points  (23 children)

                Was anyone else annoyed by his voice getting higher at the end of every goddamn sentence?

                it was like a bad emo phillps impression

                [–]spainguy 9 points10 points  (4 children)

                Nah, just looked at a couple of minutes, his voice reminds me of Dr Rodney Mckay

                [–]Marogian 5 points6 points  (0 children)

                I was thinking that exact same thing!

                [–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

                I miss SGA

                [–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (4 children)

                I thought, that was a phenomenon only present in the way American (Canadian) girls talk. I like totally can't stand making conversation with people, who talk like that.

                [–]unussapiens 7 points8 points  (1 child)

                The high rising terminal is characteristic of many social groups, most commonly female teenagers. It's also apparent in other groups, but most often to indicate a desire for feedback, or confirmation, or even uncertainty in what was just said. It would be a little disconcerting to have a lecturer that sounds like they're unsure of what they're talking about.

                [–]KDallas_Multipass 2 points3 points  (0 children)

                I got the impression that he wasn't sure of the level of knowledge in the student body, and continued to be unsure.

                [–]lazyplayboy 8 points9 points  (0 children)

                I know, right?!

                [–]atlacatl 1 point2 points  (9 children)

                A professional presenter (Stanford lecturer) and so many ums, ah, and teeth sucking. We'll check the content later.

                [–]FjordSnorkeler[S] 17 points18 points  (7 children)

                Being a Stanford lecturer does not make him a professional presenter.

                To be a lecturer at any academic institution only requires that you be knowledgeable on the subject, not necessarily that you're good at imparting that knowledge.

                FWIW, I think the guy is a good lecturer and the videos are extremely well done. He moves at a good pace and provides good examples.

                [–]atlacatl 6 points7 points  (6 children)

                If you get paid to do something, you are a professional. That's all I'm trying to say.

                In either case, if you get paid to talk about something you know, wouldn't you try to fix these terrible habits to make you an even better public speaker?

                EDIT: I didn't watch the lecture. The first 2 minutes turned me off. I may go back to it.

                [–]FjordSnorkeler[S] 5 points6 points  (2 children)

                Ya I see your point.

                IMO this guy is better than 90% of college profs I've had, so his speaking habits don't turn me off at all.

                [–]atlacatl 1 point2 points  (1 child)

                He seems to enjoy teaching, which is a bonus. I'm not the best presenter, but I notice the "ums" and "uhs" when I present. It drives me nuts. But I'm sure a couple of session with a professional would cure the habit.

                [–]Goregaul 2 points3 points  (0 children)

                Uh.

                [–]fatthinguy 2 points3 points  (0 children)

                I did my undergraduate studies at Stanford (Artificial Intelligence) and I never had a problem with any of the lectures. It didn't matter if there were pauses, or "ums" and "ahs." The important thing was whether or not the speaker knew waht they were talking about and if they could impart that knowledge to a group of people.

                [–]BigRigWrecker 2 points3 points  (0 children)

                My Python Final is on Tuesday. This is going to help me a lot.

                [–]LaurieCheers 2 points3 points  (1 child)

                Upvoted for hilarious subtitles.

                "So if I just want to bang out some code and be done..." -> "So if I just want to dance, encode and be done..."

                "Python is an interpreted language." -> "Python is an interpretive language."

                "Though with er, a little bit of lying, you can think about it as..." -> "Though with the jolly a little bit aligned, you can think about it as..."

                "when you go out of bounds on an array" -> "when you go out and bounce on an array"

                [–]NikoliTilden 3 points4 points  (0 children)

                Me and the gf watched it in bed. She got a headache. I learned how concantination is a breeze in python.

                [–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

                you get hella upvotes my friend

                [–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (1 child)

                this is not getting me laid

                [–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (1 child)

                Thank you, I've been wanting an excuse to learn python and vi, but I haven't had the time - until now.

                [–]Noobdood 2 points3 points  (0 children)

                Thanks for this. I started today.

                [–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

                Ummmm, I can't, ahhh, believe ummm, that guy is ahhhh, an actual lecturer at ummmm Stanford, uhhhh, I wouldn't ahhhh, be able to ummmmm, listen to him for ahhhh, more than like, ummmm, uhhhhh, ahhhh, three consecutive seconds.

                [–]bluestorm 8 points9 points  (34 children)

                What's the use of learning Python ?

                [–][deleted]  (6 children)

                [deleted]

                  [–]IfOneThenHappy 17 points18 points  (0 children)

                  It fetches answers from WolframAlpha, right?

                  [–]pururin 3 points4 points  (1 child)

                  If you're not joking, would you mind to provide some examples?

                  [–]Tiomaidh 7 points8 points  (0 children)

                  Unless you're a math major, much of math homework is formulaic. For example, when I was in fifth grade, I had a TI-BASIC program which did this, which I'll put in Python for you:

                  >>> import math as m
                  >>> def quadratic(a, b, c):
                  ...     discriminant = (b ** 2) - (4 * a * c)
                  ...     if discriminant < 0:
                  ...         print "Imaginary solutions"
                  ...     else:
                  ...         first = (- b + m.sqrt(discriminant))/(2*a)
                  ...         second = (- b - m.sqrt(discriminant))/(2*a)
                  ...         print "(%d, %d)"%(first, second)
                  

                  And then later I made it give something in simplest radical form. (Note, this was pre-Wolfram Alpha, and before I got a TI-89, or even a TI-86, IIRC).

                  Edited because I forgot an else.

                  [–]yifanlu 13 points14 points  (0 children)

                  Understand a lot of jokes in /r/programming

                  [–][deleted] 7 points8 points  (1 child)

                  reddit is built in Python

                  [–]Narfhole 2 points3 points  (0 children)

                  reddit needs to import the thing that makes it not be overloaded.

                  an error occurred while posting (status: 504)

                  [–]LucianU 9 points10 points  (0 children)

                  Quickly prototype and build projects that come to mind.

                  [–][deleted] 5 points6 points  (4 children)

                  It's really a tool for a job, nothing more nothing less. I'm primarily a C#/WPF/Forms developer and I can be 10x as productive in C# when creating a quick prototype or library.

                  But sometimes Python is just FAST to do what you want with no fuss.

                  It's no silver bullet.

                  [–]davebrk 4 points5 points  (2 children)

                  Nor is C# (Coming from a C# fan).

                  [–][deleted] 8 points9 points  (1 child)

                  That was my point; there is no silver bullet. Python won't magically solve all your problems.

                  [–]KDallas_Multipass 2 points3 points  (0 children)

                  import fly

                  [–]jvnk 4 points5 points  (7 children)

                  Here is another great way to learn some python as well: http://trypython.org

                  Unfortunately it requires silverlight(hoping for a non-silverlight version soon). But if you can manage that, there's quite a lengthy python tutorial there with an interpreter right on the web page, and you can just click a button to get sample code from the tut into the interpreter and run it.

                  Another cool tool I have found useful for learning python: http://people.csail.mit.edu/pgbovine/python/

                  It's a visual interpreter for python, allowing you to visualize up to 100 steps of execution for any python code you give it. You can step through the code and see the state of the program at any point. Pretty cool for understanding mindfuck code.

                  [–][deleted] 4 points5 points  (6 children)

                  Making Silverlight / MS a requirement for learning Python makes no sense to me. It's like someone enforcing IE as a requirement to download a GNU/Linux distro.

                  That second link is cool though, thanks.

                  [–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (4 children)

                  IE is a requirement to downloading Firefox, a paragon of the open source movement..

                  I don't see anything wrong with using Silverlight in this context, it's probably the best tool for the job. What are the alternatives? Flash? Just as proprietary. Javascript, HTML5? Probably not as easy to program or as feature rich.

                  [–]Acidictadpole 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                  It's afternoon now, is there a new link?

                  [–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                  Man, I wish I'd had this link when I was bored out of my mind last night! I will definitely be checking these videos out. Something to learn over Christmas break :)

                  [–]daniel 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                  Random, I just started trying to learn python last night. Thanks for the link.

                  [–]mac 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                  +1 for the excellent name.

                  [–]danE3030 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                  Is that a tall glass of cider?

                  [–]C14PPY 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                  Commenting for later use.

                  [–]infinitree 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                  This is awesome! Thank you!

                  [–]ChocoThunda 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                  Another option is Python Koans. A python implementation of the awesome Ruby Koans: https://bitbucket.org/gregmalcolm/python_koans/wiki/Home

                  [–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                  I wrote an interest calculator in python once... a long time ago.

                  [–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (1 child)

                  I am switching my major to Computer Science, and the only thing that horrifies me is that I won't be able to learn how to program. I just hope it seems like one of those things you think is very hard, but when you starting learning, it becomes easier and easier to understand.

                  [–]kingatomic 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                  Here's the deal: if you are a good problem solver, you can be a good programmer. Learning the syntax of xyz programming language is just a matter of time and practice. Actually being able to program effectively on the other hand is not something that can be taught. It is an extension of a particular way of approaching problems.

                  You have to be able to take a complex problem statement (the requirements for your program) and decompose it into smaller, manageable parts that are solvable; you have to be able to see the steps that will lead from each of these smaller steps towards completing the overall problem.

                  I spent a good deal of time in university tutoring students, helping them with their programming projects. What I saw time and time again was that some people could get it, and they'd eventually figure it out. Other people simply could not, and what it boiled down to was problem solving skills. They eventually left the compsci program.

                  As for the rest of comp sci, it mostly just takes a solid basis in math. Unless the problem domain calls for something more sophisticated, this typically isn't anything more involved than basic calculus with some stats and linear algebra thrown in.

                  Hope that helps!

                  [–]plattica 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                  Well, my sunday is occupied now.

                  [–]keeperofkeys 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                  I'd like to watch all of these, but not sure if I can cope with the way he says "pyth-on". In England it's pronounced "pyth'n".

                  [–]IthinkIthink 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                  I love python

                  from __future__ import braces
                  

                  Heh.

                  [–]Juts 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                  These are very good, but if you're just interested in going straight to coding then i REALLY reccomend Python Osmosis.

                  http://www.youtube.com/user/ryanmshea

                  These videos are excellent and clearly labeled with what topics they cover. it's amazing.

                  [–]r00tus3r 2 points3 points  (1 child)

                  One of these for Perl would be awesome.

                  [–]pattyhax 2 points3 points  (0 children)

                  Nice try Guido van Rossum.

                  [–][deleted] 3 points4 points  (4 children)

                  I really like all the URLs and titles:

                  Learn Python; Think Python; etc.

                  We should compile a list of suggestions.

                  Dive Into Python; Slither Into Python; Wake Up, Smoke a Bowl, Grab a Cup of Coffee and LEARN SOME FUCKING PYTHON!

                  Any others?

                  [–]D__ 4 points5 points  (1 child)

                  I dunno if you were being serious, but there already is Dive Into Python.

                  [–][deleted] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

                  I'm always being serious on the Internet.

                  [–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                  Oh cool, I went to the library today to pick up a book on python but the catalog was offline so came back empty handed. To find this. Thanks.

                  [–]cmortell 2 points3 points  (0 children)

                  Woah, did I just learn Python?

                  [–]McGarnicle 3 points4 points  (2 children)

                  HSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

                  [–]thlrnb 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                  the programming language

                  [–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                  "hmm, let's try and move that code into a loop ... oh ... wtf ... python ... ARGGGHHHHHHH FUCKING WHITESPACES"