[Tutor] wanting to learn

[W W]

On Wed, Jun 11, 2008 at 9:48 AM, Michael yaV <michael at yavarsity.com> wrote:
> A little background on myself. I am a web designer so I am a Mac person. I
> have taught myself HTML and flash by reading manuals and a lot of trial and
> error over the last 11 years. I have always wanted to learn a language like
> php, asp, .net but I never took the time to learn them. I have recently
> found Python and  believe this is the language that I will "hang-my-hat-on"
> and learn.

I'm sure several of us come from similar backgrounds, if not so
focused on HTML/flash

> I don't have any formal training in any coding language but I do have the
> "will" to learn.

That's probably the most important part. You may find that *some* of
the principles you've learned in html/flash will carry over. If you've
had any experience with javascript, that will also be rather helpful.

> Since my background is web, I want to learn Python and how it relates to the
> web. I have been told that I need to learn and understand the basics in
> "standard/general" Python before I move onto something like "django" but
> really, how much Python do I need to know before I can head down the web
> path?

I'm sure there are several on the list who are better qualified to
answer this, seeing as how I haven't even touched django ;)

> Is Python a language a total beginner/tutorial reader like myself can learn
> or do I need to take classes at a local college? Is their is just too much
> to learn to do this on my own. I am starting to get a bit over whelmed with
> all of the information I'm finding.

If you took any programming classes, that would be helpful. As a great
beginning resource, I'd recommend Think Python, available here:
http://www.greenteapress.com/thinkpython/

It's one of the sources I used in my migration to python. I'm
currently still in school, and c++ is the main language they teach
here so I bounce back and forth (specifically, i do c++ pertaining to
school work, and sometimes for kicks I write my ~30 min c++ program in
~5 in python)

> So, can anybody head me in the right direction with my endeavor?
> Since I am on an intel/Mac which IDE should I be using? Which one will be
> robust enough to take me through my journey? I have started with IDLE but I
> have been told that it is a bare bones IDE. So, if I need to learn how to
> use a IDE, I want to learn one that I will not have to discard as I become
> more familiar with the Python language.

I'm sure asking a question like that will get you more various answers
than asking "which is your favourite food?"

However, my personal preference is using vi/vim (which you should have
built in on your mac, along with python).

If you open a mac terminal window and type "vimtutor" at the prompt,
it should start the vim tutor program. There are many programmers
across various different programming languages and platforms that use
vi/vim as their ide.

That's my personal recommendation, and at the very least you should
give a few different editors/IDEs a try to see which one fits your
style/comfort zone best.

HTH,
Wayne


-- 
To be considered stupid and to be told so is more painful than being
called gluttonous, mendacious, violent, lascivious, lazy, cowardly:
every weakness, every vice, has found its defenders, its rhetoric, its
ennoblement and exaltation, but stupidity hasn't. - Primo Levi