I envy newbies

[Fredrik Lundh]

mary jeanette <marjea at uswest.net> wrote:
> I decided to learn python because I heard it was a very easy language to
> learn. So I downloaded it and bought a couple of very expensive
> paperback books from o'reilly only to discover that they are written for
> unix.

umm.  not entirely true.  afaik, most examples in
both Learning Python and Programming Python
works on all platforms.

> In other words, typing in the examples from the book into the
> interpretor only yields various syntax errors.

strange.  guess you have to tell us what you typed,
and what errors you got, before we can help you
figure out what's wrong.

> I have no idea what I am supposed to change in order to make the
> examples work, and apparently there is nowhere to turn in order
> to find out.

well, you found this newsgroup, didn't you? ;-)

if you post the errors, we can help you find out.
but a better way might be to join the Python
Tutor mailing list.  see:

    http://www.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor

    "This list is for folks who want to ask questions
    regarding how to learn computer programming
    with the Python language.

    Python (http://www.python.org) is a programming
    language which many feel is a good first language,
    because it makes it easy to express the fundamental
    concepts of programming such as data structures
    and algorithms with a syntax which many find easy
    to read and write. 

    Folks interested in learning about programming
    with Python are encouraged to join, as are folks
    interested in helping others learn. While the list
    is called tutor, anyone, whether novice or expert,
    can answer questions. 

    If individuals wish to start off-line conversations
    about a particular concept and become one-on-
    one tutor/tutee, that's fine. If either party wants
    to summarize what they learned for others to
    benefit, that's fine too."

hope this helps!

</F>