Best way to learn Python ?

[Alex Martelli]

"J5" <johnny5s_alive at hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:aa8a6t895h8l3k2q7nmhd25oh6m7haulj9 at 4ax.com...
> No schools teach it, so what books do you recommend ?

O'Reilly's "Learning Python", by Lutz and Ascher, for a slow,
patient, very thorough introduction to the basics; or, if you
prefer faster pace and more breadth (but a bit less depth),
Manning's "Quick Python Book", by Harms and McDonald.


> Also, what are some cool programming projects I could do ?

Sure!  It all depends on YOUR interest -- what turns YOU on?
Python is so simple and powerful it makes it feasible to tack,
as one's "first serious project", stuff that it would be silly
to attempt in other languages.


> What do you guys write with python ?

My own "first serious project" to get acquainted with the
language was a little system to compute conditional probabilities
(when something is known about the hidden hands) in the game
of bridge, exposed on the web as a CGI for public access, and
able to present its results easily in several different natural
languages.  But that's just because contract-bridge is a game I
love passionately -- had it been something completely different,
Python would still be just as suitable.


Alex