[Tutor] Python information

[Rob]

I'll pose this question to the list (especially the newbies): What would you
like to see demonstrated in a tutorial for absolute programming newbies? Be
as specific or as general as you like. I'd be willing to work on producing
such a tutorial, and I'd bet that others on this list will be willing to
work on it as well. (And you just might receive links to tutorials already
on the web that provide some of your answers.)

Now, on with the post:

Python is indeed a great starter language. I even see it receiving more and
more respect from a friend of mine who initially scoffed in the way he
scoffs at all high-level languages. When he saw how much my Python tinkering
had equipped me to understand C, C++, and Java, he changed his tune. The
hardest-to-impress person I know has finally concluded that this is a good
teaching language when he saw how it really does imprint good programming
practices on people who might be more easily led astray in other
circumstances.

There are lots of good tutorials out there, and all you need is one to get
you started. I got my start by opening up the official tutorial that shipped
with my Python distribution, starting up IDLE, and typing in code as I went.
As I did this, I found myself trying to do things differently from the
tutorial's way as well, just to see what happened. I was Having Fun
Programming within minutes!

I stumbled across the Python Tutor email list and started seeing that other
people had some of the same questions I had, and asked a few of my own here
and there. It seems wonderful and amazing to me that even on
comp.lang.python you can find such knowledgeable people who actually want to
help. I have never experienced a lack of support from the Python community.
This seems to be something I have in common with a good number of other
people out there. And the archives of both this email list and
comp.lang.python are loaded with neat gems of explanation and example.

Useless Python has also been recommended a number of times lately, which
puts a smile on my face. (I'm the maintainer of the site, and it's a pretty
good concept despite this fact! heehee) Since you can learn a lot by looking
at source code that runs at all, even if it's not the *best* in the world,
Useless makes a wide variety of sample stuff available. There's also the
Python Cookbook online, as well as a mass of personal home pages.

Rob
http://uselesspython.com

> -----Original Message-----
> From: tutor-admin@python.org [mailto:tutor-admin@python.org]On Behalf Of
> alan.gauld@bt.com
> Sent: Monday, July 29, 2002 4:54 AM
> To: bjmartin98@pennswoods.net; tutor@python.org
> Subject: RE: [Tutor] Python information
>
>
> Is this a troll by any chance?? Whatever I'll bite,
> the summary might be useful...
>
> >  Python is a great program for a first programming language.
>
> Tis true.
>
> > Tell me why then there is only 2 tutorials on the net
> > that teaches it from the beginning and assuming the
> > reader has no other language experience
>
> Tis not so. The Newbies page on the Python web site
> has several tutors including my own...
>
> > and absolutely no books that doesn't assume the
> > reader knows another language.  None, zero, zip!
>
> Again wrong. Both Ivan Laningham's "Teach Yourself
> Python in 24 hours" and my own "Learn to Program
> using Python" assume a complete beginner. We take
> slightly different routes: Ivan concentrates on
> teaching pure Python to beginners, I teach programming
> using Python to illustrate the concepts. But both
> are books for sure! :-)
>
> > Every place I looked on the net (I spent 10 hrs looking)
> > assumes lots of Python programming under your belt
> > or that you are knowledgeable in C++ or a Linux follower.
>
> Did you try the Python website page for non programmers?
>
> > Why are Python programmers so selfish with their knowledge.
>
> I'd argue that the Python community is one of the most
> willing to share bodies of folks on the net. I guess
> you've been looking in the wrong places!
>
> > I like this language and would like to learn more but
> > if I don't know anything how can I ask a question,
> > or further my learning in Python.
>
> Start with Danny's IDLE intro, then progress to my tutor
> (or Josh's or "How to Think like..." etc) then move onto
> the official tutor that comes with Python and finally
> read "Dive Into Python" and Eckel's "Thinking in Python".
> Then go write a program.
>
> Each time on that journey you don't understand something
> send an email to this list...
>
> Alan g.
> Author of the 'Learning to Program' web site
> http://www.freenetpages.co.uk/hp/alan.gauld
>
> _______________________________________________
> Tutor maillist  -  Tutor@python.org
> http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor
>