Programming is fast becoming a basic literacy. Software is pervasive in society and therefore it is needed in virtually every occupation. But for some people, programming feels very unnatural; that's where this book comes in! This book is written in a step-by-step, tutorial style that makes programming available to pretty much anyone who cares to take the time to learn. It's the result of my years of experience and research into teaching introductory programming.You can start using this book right away, without buying anything else and without having to install anything on your computer! Within a few days, you will understand the basics of how computer programs work. The "50 steps" method used here gives you a step-by-step incremental approach that makes the journey much easier.Also included is access to video instructions and a discount code for the use of software to speed your learning. Instructions for how to access this are at the end of the book.I've used Python in this book because (1) the syntax of the language is considered easier to learn than languages such as C++ or Java, and (2) Python is becoming very popular, even for "non computer science" folks. Note that I really like languages like C, C++, Java and PHP, and write in these languages myself quite often; however, for a basic introduction to programming, Python is the way to go! This book uses Python 3 syntax, as that is the latest version as of this writing.This book also gets right to the point when discussing new concepts. Many programming books are, in my opinion, too explanation-heavy. Just like when you learn a foreign language, the best way to learn to program is to dive right in. So, the book is designed to get you programming right away with step-by-step examples.Video tutorials, solutions to the problems, and discounts on learning software are available; how to access these is discussed at the end of the book. These items are specifically designed to work with this book and to help you learn the material as quickly and thoroughly as possible.With that being said, this is not a book for experienced programmers. The focus is on introductory concepts using Python as the target language. If you are an experienced programmer, you will find this book tedious.For those of you who are novices at programming, this is the book for you! When you're finished with this book, the world of programming will be opened up for you; from here, you can go in any direction you wish.

Make the Leap From Beginner to Intermediate in Python... Python Basics: A Practical Introduction to Python 3 Your Complete Python Curriculum-With Exercises, Interactive Quizzes, and Sample Projects What should you learn about Python in the beginning to get a strong foundation? With Python Basics, you'll not only cover the core concepts you really need to know, but you'll also learn them in the most efficient order with the help of practical exercises and interactive quizzes. You'll know enough to be dangerous with Python, fast! Who Should Read This Book If you're new to Python, you'll get a practical, step-by-step roadmap on developing your foundational skills. You'll be introduced to each concept and language feature in a logical order. Every step in this curriculum is explained and illustrated with short, clear code samples. Our goal with this book is to educate, not to impress or intimidate. If you're familiar with some basic programming concepts, you'll get a clear and well-tested introduction to Python. This is a practical introduction to Python that jumps right into the meat and potatoes without sacrificing substance. If you have prior experience with languages like VBA, PowerShell, R, Perl, C, C++, C#, Java, or Swift the numerous exercises within each chapter will fast-track your progress. If you're a seasoned developer, you'll get a Python 3 crash course that brings you up to speed with modern Python programming. Mix and match the chapters that interest you the most and use the interactive quizzes and review exercises to check your learning progress as you go along. If you're a self-starter completely new to coding, you'll get practical and motivating examples. You'll begin by installing Python and setting up a coding environment on your computer from scratch, and then continue from there. We'll get you coding right away so that you become competent and knowledgeable enough to solve real-world problems, fast. Develop a passion for programming by solving interesting problems with Python every day! If you're looking to break into a coding or data-science career, you'll pick up the practical foundations with this book. We won't just dump a boat load of theoretical information on you so you can "sink or swim"-instead you'll learn from hands-on, practical examples one step at a time. Each concept is broken down for you so you'll always know what you can do with it in practical terms. If you're interested in teaching others "how to Python," this will be your guidebook. If you're looking to stoke the coding flame in your coworkers, kids, or relatives-use our material to teach them. All the sequencing has been done for you so you'll always know what to cover next and how to explain it. What Python Developers Say About The Book: "Go forth and learn this amazing language using this great book." - Michael Kennedy, Talk Python "The wording is casual, easy to understand, and makes the information flow well." - Thomas Wong, Pythonista "I floundered for a long time trying to teach myself. I slogged through dozens of incomplete online tutorials. I snoozed through hours of boring screencasts. I gave up on countless crufty books from big-time publishers. And then I found Real Python. The easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions break the big concepts down into bite-sized chunks written in plain English. The authors never forget their audience and are consistently thorough and detailed in their explanations. I'm up and running now, but I constantly refer to the material for guidance." - Jared Nielsen, Pythonista

Master the art of writing beautiful and powerful Python by using all of the features that Python 3.5 offers About This Book Become familiar with the most important and advanced parts of the Python code style Learn the trickier aspects of Python and put it in a structured context for deeper understanding of the language Offers an expert's-eye overview of how these advanced tasks fit together in Python as a whole along with practical examples Who This Book Is For Almost anyone can learn to write working script and create high quality code but they might lack a structured understanding of what it means to be 'Pythonic'. If you are a Python programmer who wants to code efficiently by getting the syntax and usage of a few intricate Python techniques exactly right, this book is for you. What You Will Learn Create a virtualenv and start a new project Understand how and when to use the functional programming paradigm Get familiar with the different ways the decorators can be written in Understand the power of generators and coroutines without digressing into lambda calculus Create metaclasses and how it makes working with Python far easier Generate HTML documentation out of documents and code using Sphinx Learn how to track and optimize application performance, both memory and cpu Use the multiprocessing library, not just locally but also across multiple machines Get a basic understanding of packaging and creating your own libraries/applications In Detail Python is a dynamic programming language. It is known for its high readability and hence it is often the first language learned by new programmers. Python being multi-paradigm, it can be used to achieve the same thing in different ways and it is compatible across different platforms. Even if you find writing Python code easy, writing code that is efficient, easy to maintain, and reuse is not so straightforward. This book is an authoritative guide that will help you learn new advanced methods in a clear and contextualised way. It starts off by creating a project-specific environment using venv, introducing you to different Pythonic syntax and common pitfalls before moving on to cover the functional features in Python. It covers how to create different decorators, generators, and metaclasses. It also introduces you to functools.wraps and coroutines and how they work. Later on you will learn to use asyncio module for asynchronous clients and servers. You will also get familiar with different testing systems such as py.test, doctest, and unittest, and debugging tools such as Python debugger and faulthandler. You will learn to optimize application performance so that it works efficiently across multiple machines and Python versions. Finally, it will teach you how to access C functions with a simple Python call. By the end of the book, you will be able to write more advanced scripts and take on bigger challenges. Style and Approach This book is a comprehensive guide that covers advanced features of the Python language, and communicate them with an authoritative understanding of the underlying rationale for how, when, and why to use them.

You Will Learn Python 3! Zed Shaw has perfected the world’s best system for learning Python 3. Follow it and you will succeed—just like the millions of beginners Zed has taught to date! You bring the discipline, commitment, and persistence; the author supplies everything else. In Learn Python 3 the Hard Way, you’ll learn Python by working through 52 brilliantly crafted exercises. Read them. Type their code precisely. (No copying and pasting!) Fix your mistakes. Watch the programs run. As you do, you’ll learn how a computer works; what good programs look like; and how to read, write, and think about code. Zed then teaches you even more in 5+ hours of video where he shows you how to break, fix, and debug your code—live, as he’s doing the exercises. Install a complete Python environment Organize and write code Fix and break code Basic mathematics Variables Strings and text Interact with users Work with files Looping and logic Data structures using lists and dictionaries Program design Object-oriented programming Inheritance and composition Modules, classes, and objects Python packaging Automated testing Basic game development Basic web development It’ll be hard at first. But soon, you’ll just get it—and that will feel great! This course will reward you for every minute you put into it. Soon, you’ll know one of the world’s most powerful, popular programming languages. You’ll be a Python programmer. This Book Is Perfect For Total beginners with zero programming experience Junior developers who know one or two languages Returning professionals who haven’t written code in years Seasoned professionals looking for a fast, simple, crash course in Python 3

The book serves as a first introduction to computer programming of scientific applications, using the high-level Python language. The exposition is example and problem-oriented, where the applications are taken from mathematics, numerical calculus, statistics, physics, biology and finance. The book teaches "Matlab-style" and procedural programming as well as object-oriented programming. High school mathematics is a required background and it is advantageous to study classical and numerical one-variable calculus in parallel with reading this book. Besides learning how to program computers, the reader will also learn how to solve mathematical problems, arising in various branches of science and engineering, with the aid of numerical methods and programming. By blending programming, mathematics and scientific applications, the book lays a solid foundation for practicing computational science. From the reviews: Langtangen ... does an excellent job of introducing programming as a set of skills in problem solving. He guides the reader into thinking properly about producing program logic and data structures for modeling real-world problems using objects and functions and embracing the object-oriented paradigm. ... Summing Up: Highly recommended. F. H. Wild III, Choice, Vol. 47 (8), April 2010 Those of us who have learned scientific programming in Python ‘on the streets’ could be a little jealous of students who have the opportunity to take a course out of Langtangen’s Primer.” John D. Cook, The Mathematical Association of America, September 2011 This book goes through Python in particular, and programming in general, via tasks that scientists will likely perform. It contains valuable information for students new to scientific computing and would be the perfect bridge between an introduction to programming and an advanced course on numerical methods or computational science. Alex Small, IEEE, CiSE Vol. 14 (2), March /April 2012 “This fourth edition is a wonderful, inclusive textbook that covers pretty much everything one needs to know to go from zero to fairly sophisticated scientific programming in Python...” Joan Horvath, Computing Reviews, March 2015

Python Algorithms explains the Python approach to algorithm analysis and design. Written by Magnus Lie Hetland, author of Beginning Python, this book is sharply focused on classical algorithms, but it also gives a solid understanding of fundamental algorithmic problem-solving techniques. The book deals with some of the most important and challenging areas of programming and computer science, but in a highly pedagogic and readable manner. The book covers both algorithmic theory and programming practice, demonstrating how theory is reflected in real Python programs. Well-known algorithms and data structures that are built into the Python language are explained, and the user is shown how to implement and evaluate others himself.