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Python Programming for the Absolute Beginner (Paperback)

[book review]

This is a great book for learning Python, and even programming in general. I would recommend this as a good place to start for any self-learner. The book teaches the language in a tutorial style where you attempt simple exercises. Each chapter focusses upon creating a simple game; for example, you will learn about text manipulation in order to create a simple hang man game. Obviously you don't learn everything you need in one go; you learn progressively and build up the finished game in pieces. I found this to be a logical approach to teaching, and particularly apt for programming.

There shouldn't be anything overly challenging but at least thought provoking for anyone who has never programmed before. Those that have programmed before can often skip a lot of the explanation, or only skim the first half. There are, of course, a few idiosyncrasies of Python that you have to learn so I wouldn't suggested ignoring whole chapters. This book teaches you about object oriented programming but also highlights that it isn't always necessary, part of this is due to the flexibility of Python. The book is full of coding examples, all of which is on the CD (if that version is still available) otherwise from the author's website.

A short list of things you learn: text manipulation, input/output, tuples, object oriented programming, GUI creation, playing sound files, animation. Don't expect advanced techniques, as you should guess by the name, but definitely a good start.