1 How To Work With This Book?
This book suggests 11 themes that, once mastered, will give you basic skills in Python programming. These themes are arranged according to their difficulty level, from simple to more complex. If you wish to skip chapters, you are welcome to do so but bear in mind that every chapter contains concepts given in preceding chapters.
To get the most of this book, I highly recommend creating your version of every code given in the book. Tweak the code and see how it affects the output of the program.
It is also highly recommended that you take every test given at the end of chapters. Should you stack anywhere, you can always refer to the test answers given at the end of the book. But don't go there too soon. Take your time and reattend past topics.
Finally, it's worth mentioning that you don't need to install any software to write and run your code as you navigate through the book. You can use the free Python compiler (a program to write and run code), available here: https://online.qiber.org/code. No need to register or log in. I will be using this compiler in the book, and you may feel free to do the same. Should you decide to use other Python compilers, go ahead! There are many excellent, free compilers on the web. Here are some of them:
https://www.programiz.com/python-programming/online-compiler/
https://www.onlinegdb.com/online_python_interpreter
https://www.w3schools.com/python/trypython.asp?filename=demo_compiler
I am not affiliated with the above compilers and don't take any credits for them. I just want to give you some help diving into practical coding as soon as possible.
Python is one of the easiest to learn, yet, one of the most popular and widely used programming languages.
I would recommend Python as the first programing language to anyone who wants to learn to code. Why?
Python has a clean, minimalistic syntaxis. That almost looks like a natural language, which makes it easy to write and read the code.
It can take just a few lines of Python code to write a small script that does something. Simultaneously, it would require dozens of code lines in Java or C++, for instance, to complete the same piece of code.
Python is a high-level programing language, which means that it automates many essential tasks, such as memory management, which helps you focus on the core functionality of the program you create.
Python is extremely popular in the real world. Think of Google, Instagram, Netflix. They all use Python in areas that involve machine learning, data structuring, and processing.
Python is truly universal. Not only it works excellent for data-related scientific tasks. But you can build web apps and games too. Thanks to the respective Python frameworks.
Lastly, Python has a loyal and ever-growing community of supporters. Meaning the scale for Python application and the level of quality and efficiency of software built with Python will only grow.
In 1980, Guido van Rossum, a fellow at the Dutch CWI, set out to develop a powerful yet easy-to-read programming language.
Guido was developing Python in his spare time for one of the projects that required a scripting language.