Re: [Tutor] Which version to start with?
I am just starting on Python 2.6.2 on Ubuntu 9.04 and I am slightly confused with the numerous tutorials and books available for learning the language. Is there any good recommendation for a good but easy tutorial on the Internet to learn Python? Ken wesley chun wrote: On Mon, Oct 5, 2009 at 2:24 PM, Nick Hird nrh...@gmail.com wrote: What is the best version of python to start out with? I see some discussions on the net about not going to 3.1 but staying with the 2.x releases. But then i see that 3.1 is better if your just starting. greetings nick! ironically, i just gave a talk on this very subject yesterday afternoon(!) http://www.siliconvalley-codecamp.com/Sessions.aspx?OnlyOne=trueid=227 basically, if you're starting from scratch as a hobby with no pre-existing code, then learning 3.x is okay. however, since most of the world still runs on Python 2, most printed and online books and tutorials are still on Python 2, and the code at most companies using Python is still on version 2, i would recommended any release 2.6 (and newer). the reason is because 2.6 is the first release that has 3.x-specific features backported to it, so really, it's the first Python 2 release that lets you start coding against a 3.x interpreter. you can learn Python using 2.6+ then absorb the differences and move to Python 3.x quite easily. hope this helps! -- wesley ___ Tutor maillist - Tutor@python.org To unsubscribe or change subscription options: http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor
Re: [Tutor] Which version to start with?
On Tue, Oct 6, 2009 at 7:59 AM, Ken G. beach...@insightbb.com wrote: I am just starting on Python 2.6.2 on Ubuntu 9.04 and I am slightly confused with the numerous tutorials and books available for learning the language. Is there any good recommendation for a good but easy tutorial on the Internet to learn Python? Ken Alan has a good tutorial: www.alan-g.me.uk/ I haven't read it, but a lot of others on here are big fans of Wesley's book: http://python.net/crew/wesc/cpp/ There are several other sources and tutorials around, those are just the first two that popped into my mind :) I kinda hopped around to various tutorials, especially since I've programmed before (and am a CS major), so a lot of the concepts were a bit easier for me to grasp. Alan's tutorial does a great job explaining a lot of concepts behind programming in general and ties them to programming in python. HTH, Wayne wesley chun wrote: On Mon, Oct 5, 2009 at 2:24 PM, Nick Hird nrh...@gmail.com nrh...@gmail.com wrote: What is the best version of python to start out with? I see some discussions on the net about not going to 3.1 but staying with the 2.x releases. But then i see that 3.1 is better if your just starting. greetings nick! ironically, i just gave a talk on this very subject yesterday afternoon(!)http://www.siliconvalley-codecamp.com/Sessions.aspx?OnlyOne=trueid=227 basically, if you're starting from scratch as a hobby with no pre-existing code, then learning 3.x is okay. however, since most of the world still runs on Python 2, most printed and online books and tutorials are still on Python 2, and the code at most companies using Python is still on version 2, i would recommended any release 2.6 (and newer). the reason is because 2.6 is the first release that has 3.x-specific features backported to it, so really, it's the first Python 2 release that lets you start coding against a 3.x interpreter. you can learn Python using 2.6+ then absorb the differences and move to Python 3.x quite easily. hope this helps! -- wesley ___ Tutor maillist - Tutor@python.org To unsubscribe or change subscription options: http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor -- To be considered stupid and to be told so is more painful than being called gluttonous, mendacious, violent, lascivious, lazy, cowardly: every weakness, every vice, has found its defenders, its rhetoric, its ennoblement and exaltation, but stupidity hasn’t. - Primo Levi ___ Tutor maillist - Tutor@python.org To unsubscribe or change subscription options: http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor
Re: [Tutor] Which version to start with?
As someone who learned (about) programming by copying and pasting code, I really appreciate, Python for software design - how to think like a computer scientist by Allen Downey. It really talks you through the workflow of programming, rather than just give you a long list of things that you can do if you learn to program in X. A legally free manuscript is available here: http://www.greenteapress.com/thinkpython/ Best wishes, Lewis Wayne wrote: On Tue, Oct 6, 2009 at 7:59 AM, Ken G. beach...@insightbb.com mailto:beach...@insightbb.com wrote: I am just starting on Python 2.6.2 on Ubuntu 9.04 and I am slightly confused with the numerous tutorials and books available for learning the language. Is there any good recommendation for a good but easy tutorial on the Internet to learn Python? Ken Alan has a good tutorial: www.alan-g.me.uk/ http://www.alan-g.me.uk/ I haven't read it, but a lot of others on here are big fans of Wesley's book: http://python.net/crew/wesc/cpp/ There are several other sources and tutorials around, those are just the first two that popped into my mind :) I kinda hopped around to various tutorials, especially since I've programmed before (and am a CS major), so a lot of the concepts were a bit easier for me to grasp. Alan's tutorial does a great job explaining a lot of concepts behind programming in general and ties them to programming in python. HTH, Wayne wesley chun wrote: On Mon, Oct 5, 2009 at 2:24 PM, Nick Hird nrh...@gmail.com mailto:nrh...@gmail.com wrote: What is the best version of python to start out with? I see some discussions on the net about not going to 3.1 but staying with the 2.x releases. But then i see that 3.1 is better if your just starting. greetings nick! ironically, i just gave a talk on this very subject yesterday afternoon(!) http://www.siliconvalley-codecamp.com/Sessions.aspx?OnlyOne=trueid=227 http://www.siliconvalley-codecamp.com/Sessions.aspx?OnlyOne=trueid=227 basically, if you're starting from scratch as a hobby with no pre-existing code, then learning 3.x is okay. however, since most of the world still runs on Python 2, most printed and online books and tutorials are still on Python 2, and the code at most companies using Python is still on version 2, i would recommended any release 2.6 (and newer). the reason is because 2.6 is the first release that has 3.x-specific features backported to it, so really, it's the first Python 2 release that lets you start coding against a 3.x interpreter. you can learn Python using 2.6+ then absorb the differences and move to Python 3.x quite easily. hope this helps! -- wesley ___ Tutor maillist - Tutor@python.org mailto:Tutor@python.org To unsubscribe or change subscription options: http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor -- To be considered stupid and to be told so is more painful than being called gluttonous, mendacious, violent, lascivious, lazy, cowardly: every weakness, every vice, has found its defenders, its rhetoric, its ennoblement and exaltation, but stupidity hasn’t. - Primo Levi ___ Tutor maillist - Tutor@python.org To unsubscribe or change subscription options: http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor ___ Tutor maillist - Tutor@python.org To unsubscribe or change subscription options: http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor
Re: [Tutor] Which version to start with?
On Tue, Oct 6, 2009 at 8:59 AM, Ken G. beach...@insightbb.com wrote: I am just starting on Python 2.6.2 on Ubuntu 9.04 and I am slightly confused with the numerous tutorials and books available for learning the language. Is there any good recommendation for a good but easy tutorial on the Internet to learn Python? I'm fond of the official python tutorial: http://docs.python.org/tutorial/ -- Jerry ___ Tutor maillist - Tutor@python.org To unsubscribe or change subscription options: http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor
[Tutor] Which version to start with?
What is the best version of python to start out with? I see some discussions on the net about not going to 3.1 but staying with the 2.x releases. But then i see that 3.1 is better if your just starting. Thanks for any insight on which version to go with. -Nick ___ Tutor maillist - Tutor@python.org To unsubscribe or change subscription options: http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor
Re: [Tutor] Which version to start with?
2009/10/5 Nick Hird nrh...@gmail.com: What is the best version of python to start out with? I see some discussions on the net about not going to 3.1 but staying with the 2.x releases. But then i see that 3.1 is better if your just starting. Thanks for any insight on which version to go with. -Nick ___ Tutor maillist - tu...@python.org To unsubscribe or change subscription options: http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor I've got to say I think version 2.6 is the one to go with. Yes, 3.1 has been out for a while now, so support for it is getting better, but 2.6 code is very much the same as 2.5, so support has been around for much longer, and therefore will be much more stable. The same applies to tutorials: As code has changed very little since 2.0, there are likely to be less errors, and a much larger archive of questions asked previously - most of the posts to this list, archived at http://aspn.activestate.com/ASPN/Mail/Browse/Threaded/python-Tutor (among a few other places), are about 2.x code. -- Rich Roadie Rich Lovely There are 10 types of people in the world: those who know binary, those who do not, and those who are off by one. ___ Tutor maillist - Tutor@python.org To unsubscribe or change subscription options: http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor
Re: [Tutor] Which version to start with?
On Mon, Oct 5, 2009 at 4:24 PM, Nick Hird nrh...@gmail.com wrote: What is the best version of python to start out with? I see some discussions on the net about not going to 3.1 but staying with the 2.x releases. But then i see that 3.1 is better if your just starting. Thanks for any insight on which version to go with. -Nick It used to be that few tutorials were updated to 3.x, but I know at least Alan's is finished(right?). The big issue with going to 3.1 is that most of the modules haven't been ported yet, so if you want to use any cool 3rd party modules you may have issues. For beginning there's probably nothing wrong with 3.1, but I think I'd recommend sticking with 2.6. HTH, Wayne ___ Tutor maillist - Tutor@python.org To unsubscribe or change subscription options: http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor
Re: [Tutor] Which version to start with?
On Mon, Oct 5, 2009 at 2:24 PM, Nick Hird nrh...@gmail.com wrote: What is the best version of python to start out with? I see some discussions on the net about not going to 3.1 but staying with the 2.x releases. But then i see that 3.1 is better if your just starting. greetings nick! ironically, i just gave a talk on this very subject yesterday afternoon(!) http://www.siliconvalley-codecamp.com/Sessions.aspx?OnlyOne=trueid=227 basically, if you're starting from scratch as a hobby with no pre-existing code, then learning 3.x is okay. however, since most of the world still runs on Python 2, most printed and online books and tutorials are still on Python 2, and the code at most companies using Python is still on version 2, i would recommended any release 2.6 (and newer). the reason is because 2.6 is the first release that has 3.x-specific features backported to it, so really, it's the first Python 2 release that lets you start coding against a 3.x interpreter. you can learn Python using 2.6+ then absorb the differences and move to Python 3.x quite easily. hope this helps! -- wesley - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Core Python Programming, Prentice Hall, (c)2007,2001 Python Fundamentals, Prentice Hall, (c)2009 http://corepython.com wesley.j.chun :: wescpy-at-gmail.com python training and technical consulting cyberweb.consulting : silicon valley, ca http://cyberwebconsulting.com ___ Tutor maillist - Tutor@python.org To unsubscribe or change subscription options: http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor
Re: [Tutor] Which version to start with?
Thanks all! I think i will install the newly released 2.6.3 and go from there. Its a little intimidating but i guess i gotta jump right in and get my feet wet. Thanks again! -Nick On Mon, Oct 5, 2009 at 5:59 PM, wesley chun wes...@gmail.com wrote: On Mon, Oct 5, 2009 at 2:24 PM, Nick Hird nrh...@gmail.com wrote: What is the best version of python to start out with? I see some discussions on the net about not going to 3.1 but staying with the 2.x releases. But then i see that 3.1 is better if your just starting. greetings nick! ironically, i just gave a talk on this very subject yesterday afternoon(!) http://www.siliconvalley-codecamp.com/Sessions.aspx?OnlyOne=trueid=227 basically, if you're starting from scratch as a hobby with no pre-existing code, then learning 3.x is okay. however, since most of the world still runs on Python 2, most printed and online books and tutorials are still on Python 2, and the code at most companies using Python is still on version 2, i would recommended any release 2.6 (and newer). the reason is because 2.6 is the first release that has 3.x-specific features backported to it, so really, it's the first Python 2 release that lets you start coding against a 3.x interpreter. you can learn Python using 2.6+ then absorb the differences and move to Python 3.x quite easily. hope this helps! -- wesley - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Core Python Programming, Prentice Hall, (c)2007,2001 Python Fundamentals, Prentice Hall, (c)2009 http://corepython.com wesley.j.chun :: wescpy-at-gmail.com python training and technical consulting cyberweb.consulting : silicon valley, ca http://cyberwebconsulting.com -- --Nick ___ Tutor maillist - Tutor@python.org To unsubscribe or change subscription options: http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor
