Beginning with Python; the right choice?

[Amos Anderson]

In learning most programming languages, in my experience anyway, it's easy
to get overwhelmed and want to give up. Python is easy enough that you
should be able to pick it to a point that it will be useful to you while
still learning the more advanced features. Python generally teaches good
programming practices and I can see easily moving from Python to a more
advanced language. BASIC is so far removed from modern languages that, IMO,
it would make it difficult to transition to a modern language like C, C++ or
Java.

Python.org has a tutorial that should get you going. It seems to assume some
programming knowledge but I think it's clear enough that even an absolute
beginner could learn from it. http://docs.python.org/tutorial/index.html

I learned C++ coming from Applesoft BASIC and Tandy Coco3 BASIC. I got a
Sam's Teach Yourself book to do it. I really don't recommend that approach
to anybody. It was very hard for me to understand the concepts necessary to
make good use of C++. If I had only known about Python.

On Fri, Jun 26, 2009 at 9:22 PM, sato.photo at gmail.com
<sato.photo at gmail.com>wrote:

> Hi,
>
> As you can imagine, I am new, both to this group and to Python.  I
> have read various posts on the best book to buy or online tutorial to
> read and have started to go through them.  I was wondering, as someone
> with virtually no programming experience (I am a photographer by
> trade), is Python the right language for me to try and learn?
>
> I do vaguely remember learning what I think was BASIC on some old
> Apple's back in elementary school (circa 1992).  Would something like
> that (the name at least makes it SOUND easier) be more feasible?
>
> If I do choose to learn Python, are there any tutorials for the
> absolute beginner.  I do not mean beginner to Python, but rather,
> beginner to programming.  Someone who hasn't a clue what object
> oriented whatcha-ma-whoozit means.  I ask again because I understand
> that content is always evolving and there might be new tutorials out
> there.
>
> Thanks!
>
> -Daniel Sato
> --
> http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
>
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