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There’s quite a few: - Zed Shaw’s Learn More Python the Hard Way[1] - Brian Hogan’s Exercises for Programmers (best for beginners or for learning a new langua

There’s quite a few: - Zed Shaw’s Learn More Python the Hard Way[1] - Brian Hogan’s Exercises for Programmers (best for beginners or for learning a new language)[2] - Hal Fulton’s The Ruby Way[3] - Chris Ferdinandi’s Vanilla JS Academy[4] - Marc-Andre Cournoyer’s Great Code Club (it’s old, and the community doesn’t exist anymore, but i think he still maintains it)[5] - A few python books from No Starch Press (notably those authored by Al Sweigart) I learned the most as a beginner from Zed Shaw’s work, and from reading open source code. Once you’re done with the initial “learn from tutorials” phase, there’s no better resource than reading open source code. [1] https://www.amazon.com/Learn-More-Python-Hard-Way/dp/0134123484/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?crid=QA7619O1989I&keywords=zed+shaw+learn+more+python&qid=1673963222&sprefix=zed+shaw+learn+more+puthon%2Caps%2C343&sr=8-1 https://www.amazon.com/Learn-More-Python-Hard-Way/dp/0134123... [2] https://www.amazon.com/Exercises-Programmers-Challenges-Develop-Coding/dp/1680501224 https://www.amazon.com/Exercises-Programmers-Challenges-Deve... [3] https://www.amazon.com/Ruby-Way-Programming-Addison-Wesley-Professional/dp/0321714636 https://www.amazon.com/Ruby-Way-Programming-Addison-Wesley-P... [4] https://vanillajsacademy.com/ https://vanillajsacademy.com/ [5] https://www.greatcodeclub.com/ https://www.greatcodeclub.com/

darreninthenet 4y ago
Is Shaw's first Python book any good?
- kennyfrc 4y ago
  If you’re a pure beginner with zero programming experience, yes. If you’ve programmed a few scripts and have done a flask web app, his first book might be too easy.
- cameron_b 4y ago
  I found his Learn Python3 The Hard Way to be a great series of exercises if you're starting out or starting again. You won't find -everything- on any topic, but the exercises are complete enough to get you rolling and seed the sort of patterns that will make you successful in looking for more material. I had a little bit of Python(2) under my belt from general curiosity, and I've done some C++ in high school so I have some "CS Theory" There is a "more" python version out now https://learncodethehardway.org/more-python-book/ https://learncodethehardway.org/more-python-book/ Amazon ( the "newer" version proposed is not, it's his python2 book ) https://www.amazon.com/Learn-More-Python-Hard-Way/dp/0134123484 https://www.amazon.com/Learn-More-Python-Hard-Way/dp/0134123...
- danpalmer 4y ago
  Shaw has had some strong opinions that have gone significantly against the mainstream viewpoint in Python. Whether he's right or not doesn't really matter - as an educator that is targeting the mainstream it's fairly important to stay on that and not introduce personal bias around these things. Unfortunately his criticism was often not very constructive.
  - cameron_b 4y ago
    despite my other comment here I do agree with you on this, especially remembering his comments on test tools, nose for example
    - danpalmer 4y ago
      Yeah, he pushed back hard against the Python 3 migration, by picking on a small number of trade-offs that he personally didn't like and using that to conclude that the entire endeavour was doomed. The Python 3 migration wasn't flawless by any means, but it was better than he made out. I know his "criticism" also held back many from moving their libraries to Python 3 by sowing doubt in the community, and ultimately may have slowed down adoption overall.
- mayankkaizen 4y ago
  If you ignore his strong opinions, it can be good. Although he was (is?) very much hated back in the day (when Python 2 was still mainstream), many many noobs did benefitted from his book. So I'd say give it a try.
7speter 4y ago
> and from reading open source code. Do you just search for projects in the language your using on github?
- kennyfrc 4y ago
  Yes, and I would typically search for simple projects using keywords such as “micro”, “small”, “tiny”, or “pico”. I would then try to re-implement the “getting started” code in the readme from scratch, like a little programming puzzle. If I can’t figure it out, I‘ll add in some debugger breakpoints, inspect the stack trace to understand how it works, then code the needed methods / classes as I go. If you’re a ruby programmer, soveran’s work in github can be read in a day or two. I specifically like cuba (micro webframework) and mote (microtemplate).
Zhyl 4y ago
Specifically "Automate the Boring Stuff with Python" is my favourite Al Sweigart book.
- michaelcampbell 4y ago
  I'm not much of a Python guy, but concur with this; I enjoyed this book and did get something out of it.
- downrightmike 4y ago
  Best explanation of Regex that I have ever seen
- taffit 4y ago
  I would also recommend "Automate the Boring Stuff with Python" [1], as you are learning hands on with some practical stuff: from generating Excel-files to PDFs, from sending e-mails to work with files and folders. At the end you will have some tools to automate some of your daily tasks for real. Oh, and it's free to read as well. [1] https://automatetheboringstuff.com/ https://automatetheboringstuff.com/
lazyant 4y ago
> - A few python books from No Starch Press (notably those authored by Al Sweigart) Yes for example https://nostarch.com/inventwithpython https://nostarch.com/inventwithpython and https://nostarch.com/big-book-small-python-projects https://nostarch.com/big-book-small-python-projects
jypepin 4y ago
I learnt ruby with Zed Shaw’s Learn Ruby the Hard Way. Was a really great experience!

darreninthenet 4y ago

Is Shaw's first Python book any good?

kennyfrc 4y ago
If you’re a pure beginner with zero programming experience, yes. If you’ve programmed a few scripts and have done a flask web app, his first book might be too easy.
cameron_b 4y ago
I found his Learn Python3 The Hard Way to be a great series of exercises if you're starting out or starting again. You won't find -everything- on any topic, but the exercises are complete enough to get you rolling and seed the sort of patterns that will make you successful in looking for more material. I had a little bit of Python(2) under my belt from general curiosity, and I've done some C++ in high school so I have some "CS Theory" There is a "more" python version out now https://learncodethehardway.org/more-python-book/ https://learncodethehardway.org/more-python-book/ Amazon ( the "newer" version proposed is not, it's his python2 book ) https://www.amazon.com/Learn-More-Python-Hard-Way/dp/0134123484 https://www.amazon.com/Learn-More-Python-Hard-Way/dp/0134123...
danpalmer 4y ago
Shaw has had some strong opinions that have gone significantly against the mainstream viewpoint in Python. Whether he's right or not doesn't really matter - as an educator that is targeting the mainstream it's fairly important to stay on that and not introduce personal bias around these things. Unfortunately his criticism was often not very constructive.
- cameron_b 4y ago
  despite my other comment here I do agree with you on this, especially remembering his comments on test tools, nose for example
  - danpalmer 4y ago
    Yeah, he pushed back hard against the Python 3 migration, by picking on a small number of trade-offs that he personally didn't like and using that to conclude that the entire endeavour was doomed. The Python 3 migration wasn't flawless by any means, but it was better than he made out. I know his "criticism" also held back many from moving their libraries to Python 3 by sowing doubt in the community, and ultimately may have slowed down adoption overall.
mayankkaizen 4y ago
If you ignore his strong opinions, it can be good. Although he was (is?) very much hated back in the day (when Python 2 was still mainstream), many many noobs did benefitted from his book. So I'd say give it a try.

7speter 4y ago

> and from reading open source code. Do you just search for projects in the language your using on github?

kennyfrc 4y ago
Yes, and I would typically search for simple projects using keywords such as “micro”, “small”, “tiny”, or “pico”. I would then try to re-implement the “getting started” code in the readme from scratch, like a little programming puzzle. If I can’t figure it out, I‘ll add in some debugger breakpoints, inspect the stack trace to understand how it works, then code the needed methods / classes as I go. If you’re a ruby programmer, soveran’s work in github can be read in a day or two. I specifically like cuba (micro webframework) and mote (microtemplate).

Zhyl 4y ago

Specifically "Automate the Boring Stuff with Python" is my favourite Al Sweigart book.

michaelcampbell 4y ago
I'm not much of a Python guy, but concur with this; I enjoyed this book and did get something out of it.
downrightmike 4y ago
Best explanation of Regex that I have ever seen
taffit 4y ago
I would also recommend "Automate the Boring Stuff with Python" [1], as you are learning hands on with some practical stuff: from generating Excel-files to PDFs, from sending e-mails to work with files and folders. At the end you will have some tools to automate some of your daily tasks for real. Oh, and it's free to read as well. [1] https://automatetheboringstuff.com/ https://automatetheboringstuff.com/

lazyant 4y ago

> - A few python books from No Starch Press (notably those authored by Al Sweigart) Yes for example https://nostarch.com/inventwithpython https://nostarch.com/inventwithpython and https://nostarch.com/big-book-small-python-projects https://nostarch.com/big-book-small-python-projects

jypepin 4y ago

I learnt ruby with Zed Shaw’s Learn Ruby the Hard Way. Was a really great experience!