Introduction to Django

Introduction to django by one of its developer http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-70449010942275062

Using IDLE

I take my words back on what I said about IDLE (Integrated DeveLopment Environment) earlier in “Where to Start?”. In the past few days, I felt that using IDLE is much more easier and faster for learning purpose than other IDE. Yeah, the IDLE should really be an acronym of Integrated Developer’s Learning Environment.

Here is a nice online resource for using IDLE.

Slicing – Sequence

Check out my article for newbies on using slicing operation of sequences….

Indexing – Sequence

Check out my article for newbies on indexing operation of sequence types…

input vs raw_input

This document compares and contrasts the Python’s input and raw_input functions which are used to accept input interactively from users in command line programs.

First Python Program

This is my first simple program. The comments on the code does all the explanation. One thing I do and recommend to others is to learn the coding convention right from the beginning when you learn the language. This way writing code per convention turns into a habit. Powered by ThinkFree Some rights reserved

Where to start?

Now that I’ve decided to learn python, the next steps are to have the python software installed on my machine. Having worked on other languages I’m used to IDEs and so did not like the IDE that comes with python (IDLE) and so I found a nice and free IDE to work with. It is Stani’s Python Editor. Once I feel that I would adopt this language I might well buy some better IDE that is out there in the market. For now I’ll stick with SPE.

Step 1: Download and Install Python.

Just download latest python software and the installation is pretty straight forward. If you still do need help you can use the screencast on downloading and installing. One customization which I do during installation is to install it directly under the root drive like “c:\Python24″. This makes it easier for me to write bat files in future.

Step 2: Download and Install Stani’s Python Editor.

• First thing to know before installing Stani’s Python Editor is that it requires wxPython 2.5.4.1+. apart from latest python. This installation is easy and straightforward. You don’t need any customization. Just follow the wizard.
• Then now install the Stani’s Python Editor. Just follow the wizard and no customization.
• Smoke test your installation by launching the Stani’s Python Editor using the link on desktop. To further verify this I’ll use this editor later to develop and run my first python script.
• Watch this screencast to familiarize yourself with the IDE features.

Now I’m packed for the interesting journey ahead…

Why python?

Learning a new programming language is quite an investment (timewise) for a new programmers. Though not a lot for experienced programmers it would still be question of choice. Like why not Perl/Ruby? etc., Based on my experience I would say python is a must for new or experienced programmers. The syntactic simplicity helps new programmers focus primarirly on learning programming aspects. For experienced programmers this language is for improving your productivity. At the very least it helps to automate adhoc tasks that you would otherwise do manually. Believe it or not I was able to develop a stand-alone simple & short command-line program to rename files under directories (including subdir) with wildcard style filtering in less than hour. That too while learning python. I cannot imagine doing this in C++/Java/C# with that speed no matter what the level of experience is. Having such a language in my toolkit (skillset) will certainly help me be a more productive engineer. So the journey now begins..

For experienced programmers, here are some industry experts view on python.

1. Bruce Eckels view on python:

1.1 Why I Love python:  His top 10 reasons for loving python. Excellent one. You can also read his conversation with Bill on explaining certain points on Why I Love python.

1.2 Strong Typing vs Strong Testing: His view on why python’s dynamic typing makes it more productive way of developing than other languages.