Newbie needs book advice

[Steve Holden]

"Christopher W. Boerger" <cdboerger at earthlink.net> wrote t...
> Hey all,
>
> I've gotten the bug to learn programming and have chosen Python as the
> language to learn with.  I've downloaded python 2.0 (MacOS) from
> python.org and started printing out some of the online tutorials
> available from the site.  However, I've discovered while the online
> tutorials are good, they pretty much cover rules and syntax and don't
> get into examples, lessons or applying what was just taught into some
> real-world examples.  I guess I'm looking for some homework at the end
> of a lesson.
>
> So I decided to purchase a book to learn the language and get some
> programming assignments (homework) as well.  I've narrowed it down to
> two books: Learning Python by Mark Lutz from O'Reilly and Learning To
> Program Using Python: A Tutorial For Hobbyists, Self-Starters, And Those
> Who Want To Learn The Art Of Programming by Alan Gauld from
> Addison-Wesley.
>
> Any thoughts, opinions, advice?  My background in programming is limited
> to a Pascal class in college, although I did ace the class with a 97% -
> not bad for a Political Science major :^)
>
> Thank you for your help.
>
"Learning Python" is an excellent book, with exercises at the end of each
chapter. I would recommend it highly to someone in your position. Since I'm
not familiar with Gauld's book you'll have to seek comparisons from those
who are.

You should also not overlook the increasing wealth of Python material on the
web.

regards
 Steve