[Tutor] I need some guidance

[Alan Gauld]

> Alan, I am a bit lost when you wrote:
> "
> Read a lot and experiment a lot. Thats where Pythons >>> prompt
really
> helps. You can build quite sophisticated programs very quickly

> by the way Windows XP and the Python v2.4). Do you mean writing from
the
> Command Line windows instead to use the IDLE one?

No, I mean any >>> prompt whether in IDLE or the command line.
The point is, you can experiment at the >>> prompt before typing
the code into a file. Calling a function lots of times with different
values for example is a great way to learn how to use it, and much
faster than writing a full program, saving it, then running it and
then changing it, and repeating.

Just type the command in at the >>> prompt and hit Enter.
Then hit up arrow or CTRL P to bring the line back, change
the values and hit Enter again...

Once you've got it just how you want it, type the line into a
real program. That's still how I get to grips with any new modules
that I haven't used before.

HTH,

Alan G
Author of the Learn to Program web tutor
http://www.freenetpages.co.uk/hp/alan.gauld