5 ms·

A Gentle Introduction to Programming Using Python

68 points by Rod 18y ago

axiom 18y ago
OpenCourseWare is such a cool idea and has a ton of potential. It's really unfortunate that 95% of the courses that have been put up don't have nearly enough content posted online to be of any use. Just take a look at the lecture notes and labs posted for this course. You're far better off just looking up some random python tutorial online. You can often find videos of entire course lectures posted online by using google video. Or if you're looking for an academic conference style crash course, check out http://videolectures.net/ http://videolectures.net/
- psyklic 18y ago
  The value of most courses isn't in the lecture notes or assignments. Instead, it's in the textbook and feedback received from assignments. Neither of these can be published online on open courseware, in most cases.
  - newt0311 18y ago
    No kidding. Here at caltech, several ofthe students don't even go to the lectures.
  - jhancock 18y ago
    "it's in the textbook and feedback" The second half of this is hard to solve (feedback), but the first half (textbooks) is solvable.
    - jessep 18y ago
      The textbook for this course is actually online, so in this instance the problem's solved. They're using the free book "How to Think Like a Computer Scientist," by Allen B. Downey. Check it out here: http://www.greenteapress.com/thinkpython/thinkpython.html http://www.greenteapress.com/thinkpython/thinkpython.html
- bstadil 18y ago
  The Yale courseware is much better. Look at this Game theory lecture series that I recently "took" http://oyc.yale.edu/economics/game-theory/contents/downloads http://oyc.yale.edu/economics/game-theory/contents/downloads You get the videos or mp3 , transcript of the talk, pdf of the blackboard. The tests and the answers to the test. This is just excellent.
  - axiom 18y ago
    This is fantastic, thank you! Edit: http://oyc.yale.edu/classics/introduction-to-ancient-greek-history/content/downloads.html http://oyc.yale.edu/classics/introduction-to-ancient-greek-h... wow!
raamdev 18y ago
The Python tutorial linked on the site looks very well laid out and easy for beginners to learn from: http://www.openbookproject.net/thinkcs/python/english2e/index.xhtml http://www.openbookproject.net/thinkcs/python/english2e/inde...
- cdr 18y ago
  I believe that's the older version of what's now "Python for Software Design": http://www.greenteapress.com/thinkpython/ http://www.greenteapress.com/thinkpython/ The dead-tree edition is slated for March (which I'm definitely picking up) and the manuscript is free on the site.
cellis 18y ago
upmodded for the priceless xkcd. and yes, of course python. Just started.
- deleted 18y ago
  [deleted]
sachinag 18y ago
Help me, HN: I really want to pick up elementary programming, and I've been convinced that Python is the right way to go. But when I tried to learn SQL, I just got completely flummoxed. Is this even worth the try or is the whole "some people just can't get programming" true enough that I can do better things with my time?
- jamongkad 18y ago
  Python and web.py is the way to go. I cut my teeth learning python with that wonderful mini framework.
  - etal 18y ago
    web.py is a lot of fun, isn't it? My favorite part is that you can fit the whole app in one file, if you want to (since templates, database models, etc. are all optional). It's the Python web framework that gets closest to the PHP experience of instant results. Django is probably a better choice for jumping right into CRUD apps and numbing the pain of SQL, though. There's more to deal with up front, but you have a more complete system after the first hour than you do with web.py.
    - jamongkad 18y ago
      Word, I love web.py's flexibility as you have stated you can fit the entire app into one file. Or you can break it down to many pieces. I tend to favor the latter as it allows me to structure the app the way I want.
- gojomo 18y ago
  You are the only expert on what's right for you. SQL makes little sense as a first language, so don't extrapolate from that experience.
- jessep 18y ago
  I think python (& django) is a great way to go. I'm relatively new to programming as well, and find that I'm able to get what I want to done. Try the book used in the course that's the focus of this thread, which you can get for free here: http://www.greenteapress.com/thinkpython/thinkpython.html http://www.greenteapress.com/thinkpython/thinkpython.html
jamongkad 18y ago
Oh they used How To Think Like a Computer Science. Excellent book for learning the Python. I especially love the chapter about fruitful functions. Plenty of useful tidbits to pick up from this book.
jwb119 18y ago
As a non-technical founder trying to pick up coding i will definitely be working through this. I've also found http://code.google.com/edu/curriculumsearch/ http://code.google.com/edu/curriculumsearch/ to be a good resource for self learning materials.
- grouchyOldGuy 18y ago
  I don't know how useful that opencourseware will be to you. There are other free resources on the Internet. http://www.freenetpages.co.uk/hp/alan.gauld/ http://www.freenetpages.co.uk/hp/alan.gauld/ This is a free e-book written by a professional programmer that teaches basic programming, primarily using python. For more info on learning Python, there are lots of resources such as the official tutorial at the Python web site: http://docs.python.org/tutorial/ http://docs.python.org/tutorial/ There are other tutorials too, such as Python Rocks!: http://personalpages.tds.net/~kent37/stories/00020.html http://personalpages.tds.net/~kent37/stories/00020.html Also, the free e-book http://diveintopython.org/ http://diveintopython.org/ "Dive Into Python" (intended for experienced programmers), and http://www.ibiblio.org/swaroopch/byteofpython/read/ http://www.ibiblio.org/swaroopch/byteofpython/read/ "A Byte of Python".

68 points by Rod 18y ago

axiom 18y ago

OpenCourseWare is such a cool idea and has a ton of potential. It's really unfortunate that 95% of the courses that have been put up don't have nearly enough content posted online to be of any use. Just take a look at the lecture notes and labs posted for this course. You're far better off just looking up some random python tutorial online. You can often find videos of entire course lectures posted online by using google video. Or if you're looking for an academic conference style crash course, check out http://videolectures.net/ http://videolectures.net/

psyklic 18y ago
The value of most courses isn't in the lecture notes or assignments. Instead, it's in the textbook and feedback received from assignments. Neither of these can be published online on open courseware, in most cases.
- newt0311 18y ago
  No kidding. Here at caltech, several ofthe students don't even go to the lectures.
- jhancock 18y ago
  "it's in the textbook and feedback" The second half of this is hard to solve (feedback), but the first half (textbooks) is solvable.
  - jessep 18y ago
    The textbook for this course is actually online, so in this instance the problem's solved. They're using the free book "How to Think Like a Computer Scientist," by Allen B. Downey. Check it out here: http://www.greenteapress.com/thinkpython/thinkpython.html http://www.greenteapress.com/thinkpython/thinkpython.html
bstadil 18y ago
The Yale courseware is much better. Look at this Game theory lecture series that I recently "took" http://oyc.yale.edu/economics/game-theory/contents/downloads http://oyc.yale.edu/economics/game-theory/contents/downloads You get the videos or mp3 , transcript of the talk, pdf of the blackboard. The tests and the answers to the test. This is just excellent.
- axiom 18y ago
  This is fantastic, thank you! Edit: http://oyc.yale.edu/classics/introduction-to-ancient-greek-history/content/downloads.html http://oyc.yale.edu/classics/introduction-to-ancient-greek-h... wow!

raamdev 18y ago

The Python tutorial linked on the site looks very well laid out and easy for beginners to learn from: http://www.openbookproject.net/thinkcs/python/english2e/index.xhtml http://www.openbookproject.net/thinkcs/python/english2e/inde...

cdr 18y ago
I believe that's the older version of what's now "Python for Software Design": http://www.greenteapress.com/thinkpython/ http://www.greenteapress.com/thinkpython/ The dead-tree edition is slated for March (which I'm definitely picking up) and the manuscript is free on the site.

cellis 18y ago

upmodded for the priceless xkcd. and yes, of course python. Just started.

deleted 18y ago
[deleted]

sachinag 18y ago

Help me, HN: I really want to pick up elementary programming, and I've been convinced that Python is the right way to go. But when I tried to learn SQL, I just got completely flummoxed. Is this even worth the try or is the whole "some people just can't get programming" true enough that I can do better things with my time?

jamongkad 18y ago
Python and web.py is the way to go. I cut my teeth learning python with that wonderful mini framework.
- etal 18y ago
  web.py is a lot of fun, isn't it? My favorite part is that you can fit the whole app in one file, if you want to (since templates, database models, etc. are all optional). It's the Python web framework that gets closest to the PHP experience of instant results. Django is probably a better choice for jumping right into CRUD apps and numbing the pain of SQL, though. There's more to deal with up front, but you have a more complete system after the first hour than you do with web.py.
  - jamongkad 18y ago
    Word, I love web.py's flexibility as you have stated you can fit the entire app into one file. Or you can break it down to many pieces. I tend to favor the latter as it allows me to structure the app the way I want.
gojomo 18y ago
You are the only expert on what's right for you. SQL makes little sense as a first language, so don't extrapolate from that experience.
jessep 18y ago
I think python (& django) is a great way to go. I'm relatively new to programming as well, and find that I'm able to get what I want to done. Try the book used in the course that's the focus of this thread, which you can get for free here: http://www.greenteapress.com/thinkpython/thinkpython.html http://www.greenteapress.com/thinkpython/thinkpython.html

jamongkad 18y ago

Oh they used How To Think Like a Computer Science. Excellent book for learning the Python. I especially love the chapter about fruitful functions. Plenty of useful tidbits to pick up from this book.

jwb119 18y ago

As a non-technical founder trying to pick up coding i will definitely be working through this. I've also found http://code.google.com/edu/curriculumsearch/ http://code.google.com/edu/curriculumsearch/ to be a good resource for self learning materials.

grouchyOldGuy 18y ago
I don't know how useful that opencourseware will be to you. There are other free resources on the Internet. http://www.freenetpages.co.uk/hp/alan.gauld/ http://www.freenetpages.co.uk/hp/alan.gauld/ This is a free e-book written by a professional programmer that teaches basic programming, primarily using python. For more info on learning Python, there are lots of resources such as the official tutorial at the Python web site: http://docs.python.org/tutorial/ http://docs.python.org/tutorial/ There are other tutorials too, such as Python Rocks!: http://personalpages.tds.net/~kent37/stories/00020.html http://personalpages.tds.net/~kent37/stories/00020.html Also, the free e-book http://diveintopython.org/ http://diveintopython.org/ "Dive Into Python" (intended for experienced programmers), and http://www.ibiblio.org/swaroopch/byteofpython/read/ http://www.ibiblio.org/swaroopch/byteofpython/read/ "A Byte of Python".