[Discuss] Looking for Python advice

[Brij Charan]

I second the Orielly reviews, and the language.

I used python a few times, and I loved it as a language, my favorite so far.
Especially for something getting back into the coding game, its really
intuitive, as you can focus on the fundamentals of OOP without getting
bogged down in the details of the language, syntax, dependencies, etc.

Its a good stepping stone when trying to learn more difficult OOP languages.

:)

On 8/19/07, Michael <michael at leamyarts.com> wrote:
>
> On Sun, 2007-08-19 at 11:22 -0700, Deryk Barker wrote:
>
> > Alan W. Irwin wrote:
> > > On 2007-08-18 14:16-0700 Michael wrote:
> > >
> > >>    Hello all, I am looking for any and all suggestions regarding
> > >> learning Python. Specifically I have decided to do some minor coding
> > >> after a ten year leave, and have chosen Python as the ideal choice.
> Any
> > >> tips or suggestions regarding GUI binding, libs, best practises, etc,
> > >> etc, etc, would be greatly appreciated. Currently O'Reilly's
> > >> "Programming Python,.3rd Edition" is my primary learning resource.
> > >
> > > Python is an extremely rich and powerful language so I think you have
> > > made a
> > > good choice.  The approach I have taken to learning it is just to
> > > learn what
> > > I need to get particular tasks done.  The upside of that approach is
> my
> > > learning is highly motivated, and I have created a whole bunch of
> useful
> > > Python scripts for my research and software projects. The obvious
> > > downside
> > > of the approach is I have just scratched the surface of the language,
> and
> > > certainly my Python learning is still a work in progress. I should
> > > probably
> > > consolidate all the bits and pieces of Python that I know by taking a
> > > Python
> > > course some day, but that day hasn't happened yet so I cannot give you
> > > any
> > > general tips except be careful of indentation!  :-)
> > >
> > > To learn about Python, I have used the many on-line resources you can
> > > find
> > > using google and the python.org site.  Also, I bought one book,
> "Python:
> > > Essential Reference" which is exactly the terse but useful reference
> that
> > > the title implies. I still like that book and refer to it quite a bit.
> > I'll second what Alan says. I've been using python as my main
> > development language for about 10 years now and, while not suggesting
> > that one-size-fits-all (remember PL/1 anyone?) it is still the language
> > I automatically turn to unless there is some very good reason not to.
> >
> > People have described programming in python as 'programming in
> > pseudocode' and I think this is apt: certainly my pseudocode these days
> > tends to be pythonic if not 100% python.
> >
> > BTW the O'Reilly book - assuming that' the Mark Lutz one - is not IMHO a
> > good book. Essential Python  is an essential desktop reference, which
> > is  why my copy is so battered.
> >
> > You might like to try the open source book How to Think Like a Computer
> > Scientist (http://www.ibiblio.org/obp/thinkCSpy/) which is also
> > available in C++ and Java versions (no comment)
> >
> > Frankly once one has learned python I can't see why one would ever
> > program in anything else, unless either instructed to or for reasons of
> > efficiency (in which case one should prototye in python, profile and
> > then recode in, say, C and use a tool like SWIG to link the two sides).
> >
>
>
>     Thanks for the input. I've downloaded the book you suggested via
> link and will review it as soon as it is done decompressing. In my brief
> review of Orielly's effort, I am beginning to see why you might not like
> this book. I am, for all intents, back in newby-vile when it comes to
> programming, and I am already finding assumptions that make learning the
> topic a bit more convoluted than need be. As for "Essential Python",
> after two positive endorsements I would be nuts not to pick it up. Off
> to the bookstore ... :-)
>
>     Thanks! Michael.
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-- 
Brij Charan
Software Developer, Specializing in UI Development.