This educational book introduces emerging developers to computer programming through the Python software development language, and serves as a reference book for experienced developers looking to learn a new language or re-familiarize themselves with computational logic and syntax.
Extremely versatile and popular among developers, Python is a good general-purpose language that can be used in a variety of applications. For those with an understanding of English, Python is a very human-readable programming language, allowing for quick comprehension. Because Python supports multiple styles including scripting and object-oriented programming, it is considered to be a multi-paradigm language that enables programmers to use the most suitable style to complete a project. Increasingly used in industry, Python offers a lot of potential for those who would like to begin coding while also being a good choice for those looking to pick up an additional programming language.
Learning the key concepts of Python can help you understand how programs work while also imparting foundational logic that can serve you in other domains. Understanding what Python and computer programming can offer you both as a user and as a developer is important as technology is further integrated into daily life.
As you work through this book, you will be able to increase your awareness of computer programming, improve your logical thinking, and eventually become a producer of software. Being able to create software that runs is a very rewarding endeavor, and can help you serve those around you by increasing their access and empowering them to become collaborators. The more communities involved in the creation of software development, the more communities there will be whose needs are served by software.
If you use the book in the order it is laid out, youโll begin your exploration in Python by understanding the key differences between Python 3 and the previous versions of the language. From there, youโll set up a programming environment for your relevant local or server-based system, and begin by learning general Python code structure, syntax, and data types. Along the way, youโll gain a solid grounding in computational logic within Python, which can help you learn other programming languages. While the beginning of the book focuses on scripting in Python, the end of the book will take you through object-oriented coding in Python, which can make your code more modular, flexible, and complex without repetition. By the end of the book, youโll learn how to debug your Python code and finally how to port Python code across versions.