[Tutor] Tutor list introduction, goals, ideals...

[Alan Trautman]

Moody,

I think it has been said here many times but the best place to begin is

http://www.python.org/doc/current/tut/tut.html

Even as a programmer with on and off 10 yrs experience I did the whole thing
partially to get a 'feel' for how things are done in Python. The thing IMHO
we all love about is that things are done a Pythonic way and even if you
haven't used a part of Python yet this gives you a starting point. 

While you do that sketch (on paper) out something would like to do,
preferable relating to a hobby or interest. For me exercises get boring
quickly and it is easier to focus on finishing something. If you really
can't think of anything the calculator, first as a command line tool and
then a GUI (Tkinter) based learning tool is always good. As you create your
new project in any areas you are having difficulty either ask the tutor list
for help or use the large amount of source code available online to see how
others have done tasks. Rewrite that for your own tool. 

Now that you have done some things that work the site How to Think Like a
computer scientist I believe is well regarded on this tutor site. I agree.
The link is:
http://www.ibiblio.org/obp/thinkCSpy/

I'm sure there are many others here who have other insight as I am only a
part time Python person. I just hope this gets you started in a useful
direction.

IDLE will be fine for you for quite a while so I wouldn't worry about the
editor at this point. Unless you have a personal favorite of course:) We all
do and its really a matter or personal preference and the number of hours a
day you use the editor that usually make the decision. IMO  powerful editors
such as VIM are really only great if you use them a lot. I'll duck now an
try to avoid the editor shrapnel:) 

Hope this helps as an frequent computer systems instructor I think you've
chosen the best language to learn with an active users group.

Peace
Alan



-----Original Message-----
From: M [mailto:moody834@mac.com]
Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2003 11:37 AM
To: tutor@python.org
Subject: [Tutor] Tutor list introduction, goals, ideals...


Hello everyone:

At 36 years old, I am just about ready to start learning Python, which 
will be my first programming language (although - to render a better 
picture of where my educational level is - I've read _The Pragmatic 
Programmer_ and have a basic, though untested, understanding of OOP).

My platform of choice is OS X (currently I am running 10.2.6 [with 
Apple's free Dev Tools installed] on a 500MHz DP G4 with 512MB RAM), on 
which additionally I run OroborOSX and use fink. I've also a computer 
running SuSE 8.x and Wintendo (read Win2k Pro, Srvc. pk. 3), neither of 
which has seen any tweaking or customization.

My desire to learn Python may be split pretty evenly between fun and 
community. By the latter, I mean to say that I want to learn Python in 
part because I want to get involved with a community of souls with whom 
I feel I share a great deal (even as a newbie, such as I am and have 
been for some time). I support GNU and the GPL to the degree that I 
understand the phrase, "Free as in freedom". However, fwiw, I am not 
the sort of person who carelessly engages in conversations about 
politics/religion. My goal is, ultimately, to help create beneficial 
software, using Python (and/or some other programming language), that I 
may freely distribute to the World. A secondary but no less valuable 
goal for me is to have much fun along the way. I think /that/ must be a 
pre-requisite for using Python! :-) Getting involved in a current 
project is perfectly acceptable to me.

Which brings me to this question: If you were just starting out 
learning your first programming language (or, perhaps, /when/ you first 
started out, etc.), what might you do to get involved or, at least, 
self-educate with a goal toward getting involved? That is, what might 
your initial programming attempt be aimed at accomplishing? Should a 
person just pick any old thing (e.g., a simple text editor) to work at, 
or is there something better to start with?

Thank you to anyone/everyone who answers this. Please feel free to give 
me your advice on whatever you think might be useful to me (or anyone 
in my position).


Sincerely,
Moody


PS: IDLE is very nice.
PPS: I am just about ready to go back to school to work on getting a 
degree in journalism. This is relevant because in the end I think I'd 
really like to report on tech topics.


_______________________________________________
Tutor maillist  -  Tutor@python.org
http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor