[Cialug] Becoming a python expert

[Matthew Nuzum]

Some excellent sources here, but I just want to point out one big thing you
have to consider when learning Python, and for the record, I did
professional Python web development for several years:

Python 2.x is extremely popular and there are a lot of resources available
for it, but it is the past. Python 3.x is the future. Sadly, adoption has
been slow. That means that a good amount of the training resources you'll
find are targeted at Python 2.7, which means even the best of them will
teach you bad habits. You'll need to root around for good Python 3
resources.

There are different learning styles. I'm more kinesthetic, which means I
learn by doing. There were three things I used to learn Python:

1. Python Pocket Reference (this version supports Python 2 and 3):
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0596158084/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0596158084&linkCode=as2&tag=bearfruitorg-20&linkId=CSGMZU6XR23SEENY

2. The official Python tutorial, particularly read the firs 5 chapters,
then explore the remainder of the tutorial, chapters 10 and 11 are useful:
https://docs.python.org/3/tutorial/

3. The Django tutorial:
https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.7/intro/tutorial01/

That last one may surprise you, but the reason I include it is because it
is a very practical tutorial. Assuming you know a little Python (the
chapters from item #2), within an hour you'll be building database web
applications similar to the stuff you can do with MS Access. The downside
is that Django has, until very recently, primarily supports Python 2.x. The
Django 1.7 tutorial assumes Python 3, most other resources on the web
assume Python 2.x.

One other item I know of but don't have personal experience with is: "Think
Like a Computer Scientist (Python 3)" at
http://openbookproject.net/thinkcs/python/english3e/



On Thu, Jul 10, 2014 at 1:00 PM, Thomas Kula <kula at tproa.net> wrote:

> On Thu, Jul 10, 2014 at 10:33:42AM -0700, Ralph Kessel wrote:
> > Decided to run python but need resources to learn and web address of
> python user group.  Any help would be appreciated.
>
> I was rather fond of Zed Shaw's "Learn Python the Hard Way."
>
>
> --
> Thomas L. Kula | kula at tproa.net | http://kula.tproa.net/
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-- 
Matthew Nuzum
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