Getting Started With Python

Programming is pointless if you cannot run, or execute, the program you write. Executing a Python program tells the Python interpreter to convert the Python program into something the computer can read and act upon. There are two ways to do this: using a Python shell and calling the Python interpreter with a "bang" line. The how-to's of both are addressed here.

Before you can start programming in Python, you must ensure you have the right equipment. In addition to having Python installed, you will need a text editor. Here I offer some suggestions on choosing one that you will meet your needs.

This series of pages discusses what Python is, why one would want to use it, and how it differs from other programming languages.

With the release of Python 3.0, the number of projects that are built on a 3.x interpreter and that break compatibility with the 2.x series and before will only increase. The points of incompatiblity vary in importance, but your 2.x coding style is almost guaranteed to be incompatible on some level. Here is a series of helps to ease your transition into the world of Python 3.0.

The purpose of this tutorial is to take a simple program and build upon it in silly ways to illustrate the various elements of the Python language. You would never write a program like this in real life (except to illustrate a programming language on About.com), but you certainly will use the concepts illustrated here in 90% of the programs you write.

This series of tutorials is intended to help anyone learn to program in Python. If you are new to computers, however, you may benefit from the absolute beginner's tutorial: How a Computer Looks at Your Program.

Are you new to the world of computing? If so, this tutorial is for you. It is not about Python specifically. Instead, it addresses the basic parts of any programming language and how the computer "sees" them. Understanding how the computer "reads" what you write will help you to write better code and to find problems faster.

In Python, there are two ways to create a program: the Python shell and the text file. This article offers a brief overview of each and discusses their advantages and disadvantages.

While Python is incredibly intuitive, many people do not comprehend the basics of Python development. For them, I include here the "Zen of Python."

This tutorial is part of a series designed to help you learn to program in Python. This tutorial looks specifically at the errors, exceptions, and warnings within Python.

Python's encoding functions offer a means of encoding ASCII in Unicode and vice versa. Any program that might be used on the internet someday will need to work with multiple character sets. Here is how.

In this tutorial, we take a simple program and build upon it to illustrate the various elements of the Python language. You would never write a program like this in real life, but you certainly will use the concepts illustrated here in 90% of the programs you write. If you find this tutorial hard to follow, I encourage you to read "Beginning Python" instead.

One of the new features that was released with Python 2.5 last month is the 'with' statement. For those of you who are used to Python's try...except statement, you may find this to be the biggest boon of upgrading.

Decorators help the Python program with maintaining and extending Python programs.

Python has built-in documentation features that are easy to use. Here is how to write self-documenting functions.

Lambda calculus can be used to design just about any kind of function you might need. Here is how to use it in lieu of pseudo-code to describe your functions quickly.