On Sat, Jun 12, 2010 at 4:04 PM, Dave Angel <da...@ieee.org> wrote: > Kaushal Shriyan wrote: >> >> Hi, >> >> I am absolutely new to programming language. Dont have any programming >> experience. Can some one guide me please. is python a good start for >> novice. >> >> Thanks, >> >> Kaushal >> >> > > Like nearly all questions, the answer is "it depends." > > Mainly, it depends on what your goal is. In my case, I made my living with > programming, for many years. And in the process, learned and used about 35 > languages, plus a few more for fun. I wish I had discovered Python much > earlier, though it couldn't have been my first, since it wasn't around. But > it'd have been much better than Fortran was, for learning. > > So tell us about your goals. Abstract knowledge, console utilities, gui > development, games, web development, networking communication, ... > > Next, you might want to evaluate what you already know. There are a lot of > non-programming things that a programmer needs to understand. If you > already know many of them, that's a big head start. If you already know how > to administer a Linux system, you're already a programmer and didn't know > it. If you write complex formulas for Excel, you're a programmer. If you > already know modus ponens, and understand what a contrapositive is, you've > got a head start towards logic (neither is a programming subject, just a > start towards logical thinking). If you've worked on a large document, and > kept backups of incremental versions, so you could rework the current > version based on earlier ones, that's a plus. If you know why a file's > timestamp might change when you copy it from hard disk to a USB drive and > back again, you've got a head start. If you know why it might have a > different timestamp when you look at it six months from now without changing > it, you've got a head start. > > If you're using Windows and never used a command prompt, you have a ways to > go. If you don't know what a file really is, or how directories are > organized, you have a ways to go. And if you think a computer is > intelligent, you have a long way to go. > > Python is a powerful tool. But if you're totally new to programming, it can > also be daunting. And most people have no idea how easy some programs are, > nor how hard some other programs are, to build. > > In any case, some of the things recommending Python as a first language are: > 1) an interactive interpreter - you can experiment, trivially > 2) very fast turnaround, from the time you make a change, till you can see > how it works. This can be true even for large programs > 3) this mailing list > > DaveA > >
Thanks Dave. You saved my day and really motivated me Kaushal _______________________________________________ Tutor maillist - Tutor@python.org To unsubscribe or change subscription options: http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor
