linuxjournal.com — "Despite what assembly code and C coders might tell us, high-level languages do have their place in every programmer's toolbox, and some of them are much more than a computer-science curiosity. Out of the many high-level languages we can choose from today, Python seems to be the most interesting for those who want to learn something new.."
Sep 16, 2006 View in Crawl 4
allthingsthatflySep 17, 2006
<a class="user" href="http://www.amazon.com/Python-Programming-Absolute-Beginner/dp/1592000738">http://www.amazon.com/Python-Programming-Absolute-Beginner/dp/1592000738</a>Best book<a class="user" href="http://www.ibiblio.org/obp/thinkCSpy/">http://www.ibiblio.org/obp/thinkCSpy/</a>Second best book.;)
twtmcSep 17, 2006
It just has to be said. I have had it with these motherf**king programming languages on this motherf**king plane.
gaoshanSep 17, 2006
I do web development and gotta say that if you are just starting out PHP would be better than both Python and Ruby. I found it easier to learn. After getting PHP down (and I mean object oriented PHP5, not spaghetti code PHP4) Ruby and Python will be much easier to learn.That said, Ruby on Rails does seem sluggish. Additionally, there are not that many hosts that offer it (compared to PHP) and of those that do, it seems that there is often some noob RoR programmer who is taking down the server because of runaway fcgi processes. The whole setup needed to get RoR up and running is also quite a bit more involved than what PHP requires.Right now, I'd say that if you want to find web based work easily and quickly, learn PHP (and learn it well... as in PHP5 and object oriented coding). If you want a powerful tool for quick and potent not necessarily web based projects, learn Python. Learning Ruby will also benefit you but you won't find employers clamoring for your services because of it (and as for Ruby on Rails... not my cup of koolaid.)
Closed AccountSep 17, 2006
no you f**king ignoramus INDENTATION IS SIGNIFICANTthere is a huge difference between indentation and all white space.put simply functions etc are held by indentation levels, not {}, which produces code xxxxxxx times easier to read. you know, how they f**king taught you to, and for very good reasons
orangetideSep 17, 2006
I'm not saying spend years on learning assembly. I think it could be a chapter/unit in an intermediate computer engineering course. Like you spend 2 weeks on it, tops. Not that I find much value in learning in a structured environment, I'd recommend people just crack open a book at home and find some forum or irc channel to bug with their n00b questions. (just ignore all the rude people)It makes a huge difference to people who do C and C++ to realize that a pointer is just a number. And to understand something basic about a Turing Machine, that numbers can represent more than just values, they can represent operations(machine code) and memory addresses(pointers) too.
bradallenSep 17, 2006
+1 on Dive into Python -- it's an incredibly engaging tutorial book that wastes no time, and it has a free downloadable version as well at <a class="user" href="http://www.diveintopython.org">http://www.diveintopython.org</a> .There are a lot of other great books, too. For reference, I like "Python in a Nutshell" 2nd edition, as well as "Python Essential Reference" third edition. For examples, "Python Cookbook 2nd" edition rules. For scientific computing stuff, Python Programming for Computational Science. For building cross-platform desktop GUI applications, see "wxPython in Action". For Python as a CompSci teaching language, see "Python Programming: An Introduction to Computer Science". A quick way to see all the Python books is to go to <a class="user" href="http://nerdbooks.com">http://nerdbooks.com</a> and search for Python (sorry, I can't resist plugging my favorite technical bookseller -- their prices consistently cheaper than Amazon, and the service is terrific. Full disclosure: I don't work for Nerdbooks, but benefit from their generous hosting of local user group meetings and PyCon parties).