John Hunt - A Beginners Guide to Python 3 Programming

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There is currently huge interest in the Python programming language. This is driven by several factors; its use in schools with the Raspberry Pi platform, its ability to be used for DevOps scripts, its use in data science and machine learning and of course the language itself.

There are many books on Python, however, most assume previous programming experience or are focussed on particular aspects of Python use such as data science or machine learning or have a scientific flavor.

The aim of this book is to introduce Python to those with little or very little programming knowledge, and then to take them through to become an experienced Python developer.

As such the earlier parts of the book introduce fundamental concepts such as what avariableis and how afor loopworks. In contrast, the later chapters introduce advanced concepts such as functional programming, object orientation, and exception handling.

In between a wide range of topics are introduced and discussed from a Python point of view including functions, recursion, operators, Python properties, modules and packages, protocols and monkey patching, etc.

After the core elements of Python are established, each new subject area is introduced by way of an introductory chapter presenting the topic in general, providing background on that subject, why it is of importance, etc. These introductions cover Structured Analysis, functional programming, and object orientation.

Some of the key aspects of this book are:

Each chapter has a brief introduction, the main body of the chapter, followed by a list of (typically) online references that can be used for further reading.

Following this, there is typically anExercisessection that lists one or more exercises that build on the skills you will have learned in that chapter.

Sample solutions to the exercises are available in a GitHub online repository that supports this book.

You can of course just read this book; however, following the examples in this book will ensure that you get as much as possible out of the content.

For this, you will need a computer.

Python is a cross-platform programming language and as such you can use Python on a Windows PC, a Linux box or an Apple Mac, etc. So you are not tied to a particular type of operating system; you can use whatever you have available.

However, you will need to install some software on that computer. At a minimum, you will need Python.

This book focusses on Python 3, so you will need that. Some guidance on this is provided in Chap.on setting up your environment.