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rabbott Posts: 1649	Posted 11:59 Jan 23, 2020 \| The Python documentation includes a good introduction to Python. In addition, here is an introduction developed for a course a Berkeley. This is a list of Python Tutorials you might want to look at. Finally, a Google search for Python tutorials lists quite a few. I like the instructor on the Socratica Python series. She's both a coder and a dancer! Last edited by rabbott at 18:30 Jan 23, 2020.
rabbott Posts: 1649	Posted 18:09 Jan 23, 2020 \| Some advice for learning Python for people who already know how to program in another object-oriented language. You are already familiar with most of the ideas you will need to read and write Python code. The difficulties you will face concern primarily how those ideas are expressed in Python. It's like driving a car you are not familiar with. You know that when you want to turn on the headlights, the car provides some way to do that. But it may take some exploration to find exactly how it is done in that particular car. I wouldn't try to memorize all the Python conventions. (You won't be getting a quiz on them.) Just realize that there are conventions for expressing things in Python that will differ from the conventions you know from another language. When you need to write something but don't know how to do it, ask someone, or look it up. If you do that enough times, the convention will stick in your brain. Similarly for reading Python code. If you come across a way of expressing things you don't understand, ask someone--or again, look it up. And again, if you do that enough time, the convention will stick in your brain. Feel free to use the Forum to ask questions like that. In fact, feel more than free. One of the primary reasons for the existence of the Forum is to give you a place to ask questions. Use it. This perspective suggests that a good way to learn Python is to read code in it and try to understand what the code does. It also suggests that a good way to write code in Python is to copy some code that does something similar and modify it to do what you want. In both cases, you will have real Python code that you can hang onto. Your primary challenge will be to match the ideas in your head, which you already know from your other programming experience, to the Python code in front of you. That's a lot easier than trying to start with a blank screen. P.S. There are two widely used versions of Python, Python 2 and Python 3. Python 2 is no longer recommended. So ignore anything you see about Python 2. Just work with Python 3. Last edited by rabbott at 18:40 Jan 23, 2020.

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rabbott

Posts: 1649

Posted 11:59 Jan 23, 2020 |

The Python documentation includes a good introduction to Python. In addition, here is an introduction developed for a course a Berkeley. This is a list of Python Tutorials you might want to look at. Finally, a Google search for Python tutorials lists quite a few. I like the instructor on the Socratica Python series. She's both a coder and a dancer!

Last edited by rabbott at 18:30 Jan 23, 2020.

rabbott

Posts: 1649

Posted 18:09 Jan 23, 2020 |

Some advice for learning Python for people who already know how to program in another object-oriented language.

You are already familiar with most of the ideas you will need to read and write Python code. The difficulties you will face concern primarily how those ideas are expressed in Python. It's like driving a car you are not familiar with. You know that when you want to turn on the headlights, the car provides some way to do that. But it may take some exploration to find exactly how it is done in that particular car.

I wouldn't try to memorize all the Python conventions. (You won't be getting a quiz on them.) Just realize that there are conventions for expressing things in Python that will differ from the conventions you know from another language. When you need to write something but don't know how to do it, ask someone, or look it up. If you do that enough times, the convention will stick in your brain. Similarly for reading Python code. If you come across a way of expressing things you don't understand, ask someone--or again, look it up. And again, if you do that enough time, the convention will stick in your brain. Feel free to use the Forum to ask questions like that. In fact, feel more than free. One of the primary reasons for the existence of the Forum is to give you a place to ask questions. Use it.

This perspective suggests that a good way to learn Python is to read code in it and try to understand what the code does. It also suggests that a good way to write code in Python is to copy some code that does something similar and modify it to do what you want. In both cases, you will have real Python code that you can hang onto. Your primary challenge will be to match the ideas in your head, which you already know from your other programming experience, to the Python code in front of you. That's a lot easier than trying to start with a blank screen.

P.S. There are two widely used versions of Python, Python 2 and Python 3. Python 2 is no longer recommended. So ignore anything you see about Python 2. Just work with Python 3.

Last edited by rabbott at 18:40 Jan 23, 2020.