Should I teach myself Python

[Talk merit]

Having spent most of my early days programming in basic assembly language, I still have a slight mistrust of "high level languages". However, I realise that computing has become so sophisticated now, and one needs to support a wide variety of platforms. I'm going to need to write a couple of programs for some upcoming projects, and I'm not sure that PHP is the best solution. I've been downloading the free eBooks from PackT, and I notice that many of them are guides for Python, and include books for specialist topics. I haven't started to read them yet, as I wanted to make a decision on the best language to start my experiments.

Do any of you guys use Python, and what do you think of it?

[1715370140]

1715370140

[TheArchaeologist]

Do any of you guys use Python, and what do you think of it?

I do. I personally like that a lot of things are intuitive in Python. There's also a ton of libraries available so a lot of times you can use one of them and don't have to reinvent the wheel Keep in mind Python is a scripting language which means you won't have to compile your code before it can run. This also means when you are looking for cutting-edge performance it might not be the best choice. So it all depends on what you want to accomplish with your upcoming projects if Python is a viable option.

[mocacinno]

Having spent most of my early days programming in basic assembly language, I still have a slight mistrust of "high level languages". However, I realise that computing has become so sophisticated now, and one needs to support a wide variety of platforms. I'm going to need to write a couple of programs for some upcoming projects, and I'm not sure that PHP is the best solution. I've been downloading the free eBooks from PackT, and I notice that many of them are guides for Python, and include books for specialist topics. I haven't started to read them yet, as I wanted to make a decision on the best language to start my experiments.

Do any of you guys use Python, and what do you think of it?

I use python all the time, both for hobby projects, crypto projects and my IRL job.
Like  TheArchaeologist already said: there are tons of libraries available, even for crypto related projects, making your life a lot easyer

[Jet Cash]

I've been collecting eBooks from PackT publishing, and the latest free book is Scientific Computing with Python 3. They have a daily free book, and several of them are Python related, that's what stimulated my interest. If you want today's free book you've only got 7 hours to grab it, but they do cycle through the list, so it will turn up again. If you download it, don't forget to get the code file as well.

https://www.packtpub.com/packt/offers/free-learning

[byteball]

Python is ubiquitous, used in many problem domains, has a lot of libraries but also has a principle "there should be one, and preferably only one way to do X".
It was the first language that I could write without knowing much about syntax, and was getting many things right from first attempt.
For other languages, I had to study formal rules thoroughly to be efficient in them.

[Jet Cash]

So it seems that Python could be good choice if one wants to ad a bit of surfer interaction to a site.

[katelynsk]

I have just started learning this language, but I definitely like it. It has many use cases and huge potential, in particular, in machine learning. Maybe this is the main reason of its high popularity now. In addition, Python has a low entry threshold, it provides many libraries and has a great community. Many things on Python are intuitive even to beginners. However, this is all individually. I think you should try it for yourself to be sure.

[Hexah]

I've been collecting eBooks from PackT publishing, and the latest free book is Scientific Computing with Python 3. They have a daily free book, and several of them are Python related, that's what stimulated my interest. If you want today's free book you've only got 7 hours to grab it, but they do cycle through the list, so it will turn up again. If you download it, don't forget to get the code file as well.

https://www.packtpub.com/packt/offers/free-learning

I never heard of this one before but I do guess it is a nice collection for my learning on the language. Thanks !teJ

[Jet Cash]

I have just started learning this language, but I definitely like it. It has many use cases and huge potential, in particular, in machine learning.

Get in quickly - today's free PackT eBook is about Python machine learning. You have only got a few hours to grab it though.

[theymos]

About 60% of my university courses used Python, 30% used Java, and 10% used others. Because NumPy has become very common in university mathematics departments, Python is especially common in the areas where computer science and mathematics intersect most strongly, such as in machine learning.

I enjoy Python. It is both very high-level and very free-form. It's vaguely reminiscent of writing assembly, since you're largely free to do whatever you want, and there are a lot of conventions rather than strict rules. (Though Python is very high-level, of course.) Its freedom and imperative style make it good for doing things quickly, but it's also easy to make a mess.

For some reason the Python culture is annoyingly pretentious, though that seems to have nothing to do with the actual language. Like many modern very-high-level languages, Python encourages people to import tons of third-party libraries without looking at them, and with hardly any vetting; I don't like that at all.

[joniboini]

Get in quickly - today's free PackT eBook is about Python machine learning. You have only got a few hours to grab it though.

11 hours left atm.

I just grab it because I notice your post, never knew about PackT before. Thanks, Jet Cash!

[Jet Cash]

A very good morning to all my readers, and thank you for the rerplies.

To those who don't know about PackT Publising - they publish a free eBook every day, and they cycle through their library to find the offers. there is quite a range from the fairly useful to the quite obscure. For example, today's offer is "Mastering Bloclchain".

[jackg]

About 60% of my university courses used Python, 30% used Java, and 10% used others. Because NumPy has become very common in university mathematics departments, Python is especially common in the areas where computer science and mathematics intersect most strongly, such as in machine learning.

There are some great hardware controls in python code too.
Not the mention the pygame extension that means you can build tetris in 200 lines !

For some reason the Python culture is annoyingly pretentious, though that seems to have nothing to do with the actual language.

It's because they all bash stackoverflow which, if anyone doesn't know, is a forum that if you try to join it and help people, you get downvoted just for trying to join the community and help people .

To those who don't know about PackT Publising - they publish a free eBook every day, and they cycle through their library to find the offers. there is quite a range from the fairly useful to the quite obscure. For example, today's offer is "Mastering Bloclchain".

"Mastering Blockchain" looks like a good book. It's 500 pages long and covers everything from private key/public key encryption, bitcoin's blockchain and ethereums blockchain and quite a few more (looking at the contents as I didn't get too far past there)...

[Initscri]

Python is usually my goto reco when it comes to learning a new language. Extremely helpful in all walks of development (especially scripting/bots, etc)

While it's not the primarily language I use (something that is more market determined, not by choice), It's definitely my goto whenever I have the choice of which language I use.

[Jet Cash]

PackT seems to be having a run on Python at the moment - today's book is =
Python GUI Programming Cookbook - Second Edition [eBook]

Don't forget to download the code files as well as the book if you are collecvting it.

[Makkara]

Ok, what is a good ide for phyton in your experience? Im looking for something with autocompletition and realtime debugging at least.

[TheArchaeologist]

I'm using Visual Studio Code under Linux. Works very well!

Some info on debugging:
https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/python/debugging

[worldofcoins]

For me Python is great, its a relatively easy language to learn with many tutorials and materials online and free access. Plus, the code can be tailored to so many things.

[Raja_MBZ]

If you're planning to develop crypto-currencies and program cryptography in future, go for Haskell instead of any other popular language like Python, Java, C, etc (yup, forget everything else!)... Haskell (currently being used by Cardano only) has the best security for cryptography and once you learn about it, you'll be surprised to see how awesome it is mathematically.

[jackg]

If you're planning to develop crypto-currencies and program cryptography in future, go for Haskell instead of any other popular language like Python, Java, C, etc (yup, forget everything else!)... Haskell (currently being used by Cardano only) has the best security for cryptography and once you learn about it, you'll be surprised to see how awesome it is mathematically.

I do like haskell... There are quite a few British universities that post their lecture powerpoints on it too which is quite nice to follow.

It takes quite a while to get used to but for network broadcasting and hardware controlls, python may be better (you can run haskell scripts in python too - using os.system)...

[Initscri]

If you're planning to develop crypto-currencies and program cryptography in future, go for Haskell instead of any other popular language like Python, Java, C, etc (yup, forget everything else!)... Haskell (currently being used by Cardano only) has the best security for cryptography and once you learn about it, you'll be surprised to see how awesome it is mathematically.

I do like haskell... There are quite a few British universities that post their lecture powerpoints on it too which is quite nice to follow.

It takes quite a while to get used to but for network broadcasting and hardware controlls, python may be better (you can run haskell scripts in python too - using os.system)...

I've been interested in Haskell for a bit as well. That or golang.

Generally speaking though, I would only really learn Haskell after learning top market languages. Lets face it, the languages which "pay the bills" are the ones mostly in demand (Java, Python, PHP, etc)
https://www.codingdojo.com/blog/7-most-in-demand-programming-languages-of-2018/

[jackg]

I've been interested in Haskell for a bit as well. That or golang.

Generally speaking though, I would only really learn Haskell after learning top market languages. Lets face it, the languages which "pay the bills" are the ones mostly in demand (Java, Python, PHP, etc)
https://www.codingdojo.com/blog/7-most-in-demand-programming-languages-of-2018/

I suppose haskell is probably done alongside other languages.

Haskell is particularly good for big data mining, hashing and mathematical solving.
There are other languages like the Cs and Python which are sometimes better with mathematical problems when they can be iterated (such as finding factorials)...

Java is the biggest because that's android and website programming...

[FinalFury]

I was taking a programming class last year which included Python and some assembly. Of course you should learn some high level language, since who really programs in assembly this day in age. I've never seen a job application asking for assembly.


(Note that high level does not mean more advanced, it just means that it's more abstracted from the hardware, while low level is closer. The lowest level is machine language, the zeros and ones, so high level languages end up getting compiled to low level ones.)

[seoincorporation]

I've been collecting eBooks from PackT publishing, and the latest free book is Scientific Computing with Python 3. They have a daily free book, and several of them are Python related, that's what stimulated my interest. If you want today's free book you've only got 7 hours to grab it, but they do cycle through the list, so it will turn up again. If you download it, don't forget to get the code file as well.

https://www.packtpub.com/packt/offers/free-learning

Great free books list, i take some about JS and node.

Python is a powerful tool, but i think JavaScript is better because is focused to online projects. At end it depends on the application that software will have, if you want to make an android app you'll need to learn other language than python or JS. and if you want to build a game maybe you will go with C based engines.

[GymClassHeroes]

If your interests are for use in cryptocurrency/blockchain related enterprise, you really cannot do much with low level language like assembly, C, C++,you would need python. It is more relevant for cypto/blockchain development. You may find the video below useful to make a decision https://youtu.be/SpRz3z5e4C4

[FinalFury]

I've been collecting eBooks from PackT publishing, and the latest free book is Scientific Computing with Python 3. They have a daily free book, and several of them are Python related, that's what stimulated my interest. If you want today's free book you've only got 7 hours to grab it, but they do cycle through the list, so it will turn up again. If you download it, don't forget to get the code file as well.

https://www.packtpub.com/packt/offers/free-learning

Great free books list, i take some about JS and node.

Python is a powerful tool, but i think JavaScript is better because is focused to online projects. At end it depends on the application that software will have, if you want to make an android app you'll need to learn other language than python or JS. and if you want to build a game maybe you will go with C based engines.

I'm always afraid of giving my email. How reliable is that website? And are the books PDFs? Are they legit copies, or scanned from a textbook? If not, why would the publisher let them give it away for free. Just my skeptical mind.

[TheArchaeologist]

And are the books PDFs? Are they legit copies, or scanned from a textbook? If not, why would the publisher let them give it away for free. Just my skeptical mind.

They are in multiple formats including PDF, EPUB, MOBI  and online reading. They also include zip-files with all code examples. This is a legit site/service. In the end they try to sell you books ofcourse, these free books are meant to lure you in. But you can still claim a book every day without having to buy anything.

[Jet Cash]

They really are going fo it with Python. Today's book is
Python Data Structures and Algorithms [eBook]

[jackg]

They really are going fo it with Python. Today's book is
Python Data Structures and Algorithms [eBook]

Are you sure they go through the entire library? Since you mentioned that site to me that same book has come up three times...

[mainconcept]

They really are going fo it with Python. Today's book is
Python Data Structures and Algorithms [eBook]

Are you sure they go through the entire library? Since you mentioned that site to me that same book has come up three times...

Mostly, their newest books of course not.

Today's free book is


Mastering Python Networking

[minhkhoa]

The proximity of Python to human language makes many schools, colleges and training centers use it as a programming language to teach beginners in computer science classes calculated. Today, love for Python is ubiquitous, from the world's leading programmers to new programmers.

[BitPotus]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfscVS0vtbw

Learn Python - Full Course for Beginners

This is from freecode camp.

[Dadaro]

I am a new to programming and the first language that i use is python. So far, I enjoy my journey using it, a very beginner friendly one. I also use solo learn app to help me more understand python.

[TyfrTR]

I've been collecting eBooks from PackT publishing, and the latest free book is Scientific Computing with Python 3. They have a daily free book, and several of them are Python related, that's what stimulated my interest. If you want today's free book you've only got 7 hours to grab it, but they do cycle through the list, so it will turn up again. If you download it, don't forget to get the code file as well.

https://www.packtpub.com/packt/offers/free-learning

Hey man really thank you for sharing that book. I'd never heard about packtpub, there is a lot of useful informative books in there.  I guess that they distribute some books by free in short time periods and it's really an opp for beginners in programming. Thanks again.

[Jet Cash]

Today's free book is - Python for Web Scraping.

I can't wait to get started on some of these projects.

[dlouulmusthofa]

in my opinion, Python is the best programming application that I know, because I think, the features which available in it are quite complete and very supportive

[Jet Cash]

Python certainly seems to be interesting, and I'm trying to make time to write something using it.

Today's free book is about learning concurrency in Python. I haven't had a chance to read it, but it is an interesting topic ( to me ).

[mainconcept]

Today's free python ebook:

Python GUI Programming Cookbook - Second Edition

Master over 80 object-oriented recipes to create amazing GUIs in Python and revolutionize your applications today
- Use object-oriented programming to develop amazing GUIs in Python
- Create a working GUI project as a central resource for developing your Python GUIs
- Easy-to-follow recipes to help you develop code using the latest released version of Python

https://www.packtpub.com/packt/offers/free-learning

[katelynsk]

I've been collecting eBooks from PackT publishing, and the latest free book is Scientific Computing with Python 3. They have a daily free book, and several of them are Python related, that's what stimulated my interest. If you want today's free book you've only got 7 hours to grab it, but they do cycle through the list, so it will turn up again. If you download it, don't forget to get the code file as well.

https://www.packtpub.com/packt/offers/free-learning

Cool resource, thank you, didn't meet it before.

[snakey]

Python is great language as per simplicity is concerned. Considering the amount of code one needs to write for the same work in java or c# ,python can help you to reduce code and manage it efficiently.
Though i am from non IT back ground but i have seen my neighbour kids learning python in high school.

[pozmu]

I think it's a cool language, but you should choose good course/ book, I finished Michigan University course (2 or 3 parts) and it wasn't good, it didn't even cover objective programming.
But don't get too fixated at learning, start some projects when you learn a bit, I started 3 different courses and forgot what why I was learning this language for 

As for PHP, many people make fun of it. And in some cases it's understandable but in others not. As someone who used PHP and a little Python I can say that PHP looks better suited for web applications as you get a lot of different modules/ libraries/ functions included in core package (or you can enable it by deleting one comment in php.ini) whereas in Python you have to use 3rd party libraries and learn how to use every library a lot, because there is no uniformity between them.

Python is great language as per simplicity is concerned. Considering the amount of code one needs to write for the same work in java or c# ,python can help you to reduce code and manage it efficiently.

Yeah, in python you can write something that would require multiple lines in most other languages in just one line, but this is kind of hackerish and I wouldn't like to maintain code written in such way, but it's surely cool 

[JasonXIII]

I think it's a cool language, but you should choose good course/ book, I finished Michigan University course (2 or 3 parts) and it wasn't good, it didn't even cover objective programming.
But don't get too fixated at learning, start some projects when you learn a bit, I started 3 different courses and forgot what why I was learning this language for 

As for PHP, many people make fun of it. And in some cases it's understandable but in others not. As someone who used PHP and a little Python I can say that PHP looks better suited for web applications as you get a lot of different modules/ libraries/ functions included in core package (or you can enable it by deleting one comment in php.ini) whereas in Python you have to use 3rd party libraries and learn how to use every library a lot, because there is no uniformity between them.

Python is great language as per simplicity is concerned. Considering the amount of code one needs to write for the same work in java or c# ,python can help you to reduce code and manage it efficiently.

Yeah, in python you can write something that would require multiple lines in most other languages in just one line, but this is kind of hackerish and I wouldn't like to maintain code written in such way, but it's surely cool 

Are you sure you can use PHP as a scripting langage? I think it's only for Web pages? No?

[theymos]

As for PHP, many people make fun of it. And in some cases it's understandable but in others not.

I've written a lot of PHP. It's not terrible, but I definitely wouldn't recommend it for new programmers. PHP was originally designed as basically a Web framework on top of C, and it still feels like it. When I'm writing PHP, I feel like I'm writing C + thousands of extra functions and macros. The procedural style is satisfying to some extent, but it gets messy quickly, and the further you get from C (eg. classes), the more clunky it feels. Also, PHP has a bunch of weird default behavior which is supposed to make things easier for newbies, but it's just a big headache. For example, it always takes you a long time to figure out how to get error handling working sanely for your application.

PHP and JavaScript are both total messes as languages, though they have very different styles.

If I wanted to make a new Web app, I might use JavaScript just because it's so immensely popular for that work, even though it's flawed, or I might use a Web framework for a newer language like perhaps Python. I wouldn't make a new app in PHP.

Are you sure you can use PHP as a scripting langage?

You can, but there are some major inconveniences with it, so it's not all that common.

[pozmu]

Are you sure you can use PHP as a scripting langage? I think it's only for Web pages? No?

You can but it's not as convenient as Python. Hell, you can even write windowed apps with it if you really, really want.
If I remember correctly Mark Karpelès wrote bitcoin client in PHP just to show that it's possible to do it

[JetAid]

PackT publishing includes 6 Python programming eBooks in theit permanently free list. These include "Learning Python", "Mastering Python", and a Raspbery Pi cookbook.

Click here to view the free book list. and today's offer

[Daseento]

Many experienced programmers would definitely recommend python especially for Newbies to start their coding career. Python is an object oriented programming language and even more interesting, is the simplicity of its syntax which resembles English language better than jargons of others like C+ and the rest.

[Jet Cash]

Python Microservices Development

A practical approach to conquering the complexities of Microservices using the Python tooling ecosystem

https://www.packtpub.com/packt/offers/free-learning

Scroll down the page a bit, and they are offering another 6 Python eBooks for no charge. Get there quickly though - the microservices book is only available for another 14 hours.

[khatarnak]

After trying many books and videos i found this book from zed shaw .
*Book - Learn Python the Hard Way : Zed shaw
In my opinion its the best tutorial for learning python.

This could be helpful for starting from nothing.
*video tutorial - Learn Python in 12.5 hours : udemy
Its new and teaches realy fast but covers everything from basic.

If you cant pay i'm sure you can find them for free in torrent.

[Jet Cash]

Please respect the copyright of book authors, and don't make illegal copies.

[bluefirecorp_]

I've been interested in Haskell for a bit as well. That or golang.

I really enjoy golang;

tour.golang.org

Making binaries is really easy with it.

[Initscri]

I've been interested in Haskell for a bit as well. That or golang.

I really enjoy golang;

tour.golang.org

Making binaries is really easy with it.

Yea, I remember that's why a buddy of mine got me into it. Never really had experience with compiled languages before I started working with GoLang. Needless to say I don't regret starting;

[Jet Cash]

Today's free Python book is - Bayesian Analysis with Python

I'm not sure my stats are up to taking advantage of this book, but you clever guys can grab it now while it's free, but be quick, it's only for today. Don't forget to download the code examples as well  that's a separate download.

[WhyFhy]

Python is a good one to learn, prevails in uses too! These days seems json, python and c++ are the go to's. Make sure to learn on linux all the nitty gritty is linux based platforms.