Looking for a programming resource for newbees

[bambooforest]

Hi all,

I'm from a Linguistics background and am new(er) to programming. Could
someone recommend a book or resource that teaches programming aspects
with Python? Python I hear is a very appropriate language for handling
text and language processing.

I'm searching for a resource that examines programming from a case
study like perspective. Such as, you're faced with problem of type X -
and here's how you should look at it to break it down to form an
optimal solution (e.g. because this type or problem is handled well
with this type of data structure, etc.).

I've looked at the online Python tutorial at python.org and resources
like O'Reilly's Python in a Nutshell, but they seem to teach you
language syntax and concepts like data types, or assume you already
know how to program. I'm searching for something that teaches
programming. 

Thanks everyone,

-Steve