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Python Programming for the Absolute Beginner, Second Edition Other products by Course Technology PTR Ratting 4.0 Out of 5.0 Special Offer Total New 10 Use
	List Price: $29.99 Our Price: $18.55 Price Save:   $10.20    Total Price: $18.55 at of 2010-09-04
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Ready to learn Python programming? Are you new to programming with Python? Do you need a solid introduction to the fundamental concepts? You've found it in "Python Programming for the Absolute Beginner, Second Edition," the updated version of the successful "Python Programming for the Absolute Beginner." As part of the for the absolute beginner series developed by computer science instructors exclusively for Cengage Learning Course Technology PTR, this book will teach you the basics of Python programming through simple game creation. You can then take the skills you learn and use them for more practical Python programming applications and real-world programming scenarios. Better still, by the time you finish this book you will be able to apply the basic principles you've learned to the next programming language you tackle. Create simple, fun games while you learn to program with Python.

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 "Fine Choice for First Programming Book" 2010-08-04
By Sanford
I am a beginner with respect to programming, and do not have a particularly technical background: I know almost no math though I know formal logic pretty well. I was interested in learning something about computer programming just for fun and have looked through a number of books about a number of languages. I even spent some time with C before I decided on Python. To an absolute beginner, it seemed a relatively intuitive language without some of the messy detail required by C, for example, about memory allocation. I chose this book simply because it looked fun and very clear. Each chapter focuses on tools needed to create games. I do not have any interest at all in playing computer games of any kind, but it is a relatively painless way to learn Python. I also found the exercises at the end of each chapter very good. They are hard enough but not too hard. They generally required a fair amount of time and effort, but I was able to finally figure out all of them. This is important since I am doing this on my own.

The Cons: The book aims to be simple and brief, but sometimes it is too simple and brief. Yes I learned to get the computer to do this or that, but I did not fully get some of the concepts. In fact, I think the book moved on to fancy stuff like graphics before I got down all I needed of the basics such as file control. Perhaps someone who already knew something about programming would have had less trouble. For example, the material on writing to a file stored on the hard drive for future use was fine, as far as it went. But I realized, when trying to write a program of my own, that I did not understand a key point. If you have recorded some data to a file, and then want to revise that data, Python rewrites the entire file. Huh? What about my original data? It gets over written. There has to be a solution to this problem, but I did not find it in the book. After hours of work I devised a way to get the right result, but it was very messy and, when I posted a question on a Python forum, I found there was a simple way to do what I wanted. Maybe I am a bit thick, but I think this could have been directly covered in the book. There were several other topics that needed more discussion.

Still, keeping in mind that this book only goes so far, it is a very good introduction to Python. But if you are serious about learning Python, at some point, you are going to need one of those big fat and far more boring books.


 "Best Intro To Programming Yet..." 2010-07-12
By fuglyducky (Seattle, WA United States)
I work as a software tester and deal with programming constantly. I have a minimal understanding of programming and have written basic scripts in Perl, C#, and Ruby. Oddly, for the testing I do, I have come across a lot of tools written in Python. To utilize those I decided to try this book out. I have to say that if you are new to programming in any way this book is great. The author literally breaks down every line of every program you write and explains what each line does and how they interact. I have never seen that in any programming books I have seen. Normally there is that point in the book where the author makes a huge leap and I cannot seem to find how he/she got there from where we just were. That has not happened in this book yet.

I will update my post as soon as I have completed the book.


 "Very Easy" 2010-07-05
By B. Starr (USA)
Wonderful easy to ready book. Just what you need to get started in Python. Great examples that actually work. Clearly explained for the beginner.


 "Excellent book to teach programming." 2010-06-08
By Blowfish (California)
First, to correct some misconceptions:

The Python language environment is available for free at python dot org. To get the latest version, this is where to get it from.
It comes pre-installed on Mac's, and most versions of Linux. HOWEVER, this book (3rd edition) requests that you do the exercises in version 3.1.x.
The Mac, and most Linux machines come with version 2.5.x or 2.6.x right now. So you will want to download 3.1 even if Python is pre-installed on your machine.

Windows doesn't come with Python pre-installed, so just select the 3.1.x version for x86 computers. The installer is EXCELLENT.
I tested it on WinXP, Vista, Win7, Mac OS X, and Ubuntu Linux, and all are usable.
Note that with WIN and Mac, when you save a file, you must put the .py extension when saving. Linux does it for you.

The digital version exercises are hard to find. The book points you to the website, but not where they are on the site. One of the menu picks on the bottom of the screen will get you headed in the right direction. This is why I gave it 4 stars. Something like that should not be busted on a fairly new book.

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Review:

I was a commercial programmer from 1977-1992. So I had some experience with programming and know several languages. My children are 10 and 12 with no programming exposure. I wanted to teach them programming since it is not offered at their school. I picked Python since it's a high-level language that supports OOP (object oriented prog) yet can be used without it.

From the first day, it had the kids begging for more, and Dad wasn't bored either. Yes, some of it is a bit (yawn) for me, but it was necessary for the kids to avoid confusion. The tasks use games as examples, which makes the lessons less tedious, if not outright fun. There are homework challenges at the end of each chapter, and working source code for the lesson tasks should you get lost.

Whether there is a better book, I cannot say. But I do know it's about as good of a textbook as they come in my experience.

If you are an experienced programmer, just make your tasks a bit harder, but do read every page. There is often a bit of humor, or a little insight that makes it worth the read.


 "Missing software" 2010-06-07
By P. Drake (Harrisonburg, VA)
I bought this book so that I could learn Python on my own. The book reads well, but there is a fatal flaw: The author often refers to the software that comes with the book, which is suppose to be on the book's companion website at Cengage. Unfortunately, that is not the case. This link, upon redirect, is to: [...]. This provides a link to errata, and also a link for ebook and Kindle users. But no "Software" as promised in the book.

The python compiler is available free at [...], but the specific GUI is not. Also, the promised sample programs that the author refers to are not available as promised.

I do not believe that this is the author's fault, but publishing companies, such as Cengage, provide bare-bones support for its books. They do not want to "give away" much, and therefore miss the spirit of open source.

I wish I had bought another book instead.


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