Python from the Very Beginning by John Whitington

Python from the Very Beginning by John Whitington

In Python from the Very Beginning John Whitington takes a no-prerequisites approach to teaching a modern general-purpose programming language. Each small, self-contained chapter introduces a new topic, building until the reader can write quite substantial programs. There are plenty of questions and, crucially, worked answers and hints.

Python from the Very Beginning will appeal both to new programmers, and to experienced programmers eager to explore a new language. It is suitable both for formal use within an undergraduate or graduate curriculum, and for the interested amateur.

Chapters:

• Getting Ready
• Starting Off
• Names and Functions
• Again and Again
• Making Lists
• More with Lists and Strings
• Prettier Printing
• Arranging Things
• When Things Go Wrong
• More with Files
• The Other Numbers
• The Standard Library
• Building Bigger Programs
• Project 1: Pretty Pictures
• Project 2: Counting Calories
• Project 3: Noughts and Crosses
• Project 4: Photo Finish
• Answers to Questions
• Hints for Questions

John Whitington is the author of one of the few complete PDF implementations, CamlPDF, which implements the PDF file format from the bit level up. After graduating from the University of Cambridge, he founded Coherent Graphics Ltd, developers of command line PDF tools for Windows, Mac OS X, and Unix, and the Proview PDF Editor for Mac OS X.