I'm not up on the current books, but here's a possible starting point -
https://wiki.python.org/moin/BeginnersGuide
One thing to keep in mind. There are two series of Python - 2.x and 3.x.
They are basically very similar but have a few differences. Even though
3.xx has been the main release for almost a decade, a lot of the examples
and tutorials will be using 2.x. And they may not say so.
The main differences for a beginner are:
1. Print statements in 2.x - print 'Hello' - are written as functions in
3.x - print('Hellow').
2. Exceptions in 2.x used to be written like this:
except Exception, e:
# your code here ...
In 3.x they are
except Exception as e:
# your code here ...
The new style works actually works with 2.7 as well. 2.7 is the latest and
last version of Python 2.x. It won't be maintained after the end of 2019.
3. There are differences in how strings are handled (called
encoding/decoding), but it's too complicated to get into here, and won't
affect you at an entrance level anyway.
I recommend installing a 64-bit version of Python 3.8 (the current version).
To learn Python, you will need to get used to using the command line, also
known as the "console" on Windows or "terminal" in Linux. You don't need
to know much about them except a few basics. You also want to get a
programmer's editor. Leo can work well, but if you have trouble with its
learning curve, and you are on Windows, you can use Notepad++ (free) or
editPlus ($35, but worth every cent). There are fancier editors, but I
don't use any of them so I suggest you don't either.
Oh, yes, you can set up Leo to show line numbers for text files. They are
nearly essential to programming. It's not obvious how to set them up, but
if you can't find out how, or get stuck, just ask.
On Tuesday, February 4, 2020 at 6:21:14 PM UTC-5, andyjim wrote:
>
> "Nonsense. Anyone over the age of 7 can learn python."
>
> Love it! Where do I start? More politely, could you recommend a handful
> of what you consider the best resources/approach for a beginning
> programmer? I may or may not dig in, but I might as well give myself the
> opportunity and exposure. Actually I've had a very modest exposure to
> programming and I have heard that python is one of the easier languages to
> learn. How come? Intuitive? Simple? Works the way the mind works?
>
Most of the above for me.
> My age is the exact minimum age you mentioned...but with another digit
> following.
>
Mine too ... I might have you beat, though.
>
> Andy
>
> On Tuesday, February 4, 2020 at 5:25:45 AM UTC-5, Edward K. Ream wrote:
>>
>> On Mon, Feb 3, 2020 at 5:06 PM andyjim <andy...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Sure wish I were a programmer. Sometimes I've thought maybe I should
>>> dive into programming just to gain the skills to build this myself, but I
>>> think that's likely way too ambitious, especially at my age.
>>>
>>
>> Nonsense. Anyone over the age of 7 can learn python. The trick is not
>> minding all the mistakes you are going to make :-)
>>
>>> But if/when someone here wants to/has time to give it a look, I would
>>> love to have the opportunity to submit a more lengthy 'essay'
>>>
>>
>> Length is not your friend in convincing others.
>>
>> Edward
>>
>
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