Python In A Day: Learn The Basics, Learn It Quick, Start Coding Fast (In A Day Books)

Wow! This is a great book on programming. It's such an excellent resource, that pretty much everyone, even people who are scared of programming, will be able to start writing basic code in just an hour or two. The examples are very excellent and they're easy to follow. I've read a lot of really bad programming books, so I was delighted to find one that got everything right. Even if you're not interested in Python, I'd still recommend getting this book as an introduction to programming. It's that great of a book. It is pretty short, but I found it just the right length. I use this book as my textbook, whenever I need to teach someone the basics of programming. And, it taught me a few things, too, even though I've been programming since the 1980's. Pros: +The best book on introductory programming available +Excellent introduction to Python +Great examples +Extremely readable +The Kindle version is formatted well Cons: -Pretty short, but luckily they have a sequel

I've done some C programming in the past and currently do a lot of bash and korn shell scripting. It was recommended that I learn Python and so this book was my intro. The case for: If you've never done any programming or scripting this book is perfect. It goes through some of the basics in a clear and concise manner. It's not over simplified but definitely written for rookies. It's also material that anyone should be able to cover in a few hours. I should also point out that the book is really well written, the topics flow nicely and make perfect sense. The case against: Not much really. I was expecting more topics but quite honestly you get your money's worth. If you're a seasoned programmer it might be too basic but if you're new to coding this has lots of good stuff to get you started; reading input, storing data, output, and functions (among other things).

This is an excellent book for people looking to start learning the Ruby Programming Language. Many "beginner" books are still highly involved, text dense, and overly technical. Richard Wagstaff does a very good job of introducing the reader to Ruby from the simplest concepts and incrementally expanding on them over the course of the book. The reader starts coding almost immediately, rather than reading chapter after chapter of text, which makes this book great fun to learn with. Wagstaff also makes little assumption of prior experience in programming, so he explains concepts thoroughly while not excluding those that do. Following each practice example, he breaks down and explains each Ruby term used in plain English--super straightforward. I would definitely recommend this book, especially to those who are taking their very first steps in Ruby.

The book is very simple, and does exactly what it set out to: teach you the basics of Ruby in a day. If you are an experienced programmer, the content may be a little underwhelming. This is for absolute beginners to programming, not for senior people coming from other languages. Since all the concepts were familiar to me already, I read the book in less than 3 hours. It might actually take a day for someone doing the examples and rereading parts for understanding. If you're a veteran of another language, the book may be of questionable value for you. It does not contain enough material to be useful as a reference, and does not offer comparisons or relation to any other language. That's wasn't the author's goal though. That said, this is exactly the kind of book that I really needed years ago when I was getting started. The big, in-depth books attempting to cover an entire language and every nuance of it are really hard for beginners. A book like this can get someone writing some basic code very quickly, which in turn makes more complex tutorials and books useful for expanding understanding. So what is my perspective? I come to Ruby as a former C# coder, and seasoned Javascript programmer. My work has spanned both desktop and web apps. Ruby on Rails is used in my current job by some of my team members, and it has been challenging for me to understand even with tutorials because the syntax is so loose and simple. I'm used to the more strict syntax of C#, and to a lesser degree javascript. Learning Rails without understanding Ruby has been frustrating, as it feels like a lot of "context" is missing. So today I thought I'd try this quick little book for a quick jolt of basic Ruby without the Rails. Seeing Ruby in operation by itself helped some things click for me, and I felt a little better armed to understand our Rails code. This definitely does not make me a Ruby programmer, though that would be an option if I chose to spend more time learning about it using additional resources and investing the appropriate time. Anyone who is just starting out should understand that a book like this does not make you a programmer. What it does is give you a basic foundation to actually learn the language through other resources. No one becomes an expert programmer from reading a 75 page "in a day" book like this, nor was that the author's intention. This is like playing a sport in school for one day. It gives you a chance to see it in action and get a feel for whether you'd like to play more. As for price, the Kindle version was only six dollars and change in October of 2013. That's less than the average fast food combo meal or brand new paperback novel. A higher price isn't warranted, and a cheaper price would be appreciated, but you have to ask yourself if you think you'll get more out of this than lunch today. Unlike lunch, this might stick with you more than a day and open some doors in the future. If you already know basic Ruby, or want to follow this one up with a really deep book on Ruby, try David Flanagan and Yukihiro Matsumoto's Ruby book. You will NOT read that one in a day. :)

I program in IDL and Fortran and wanted to get the basics down in Python quickly. This book covers the absolute bare essentials but I found myself searching online to find out how to open and read a file efficiently with Python. I'd expect something like that to be covered. This is a book of basic syntax and programming language, not a book of the neat ways of programming in Python. Maybe my fault rather than the book's, but I don't recommend it for someone with prior programming knowledge.

Learned the basic syntax and concepts covered in this book in a few hours. Does exactly what it says it will, gives you real-world working examples and walks you through them, then challenges you to produce code for a similar task. You'll surprise yourself. In fact, I'm going to do a quick refresher today. I'll be using this to keep my skills up to speed for years to come. I occasionally have to produce production code too complex to comfortably spin up in shell script, but not often enough to be 100% confident without a little run-up first. There are also many many IDE's available for free on many platforms for python, which make the whole process even more palatable. Useful for complete beginners up to occasional power users alike.

En un jour finalement, c'est un peu léger, même avec la connaissance d'autres langages. La formule est à revoir. "In a week" serait mieux.

Zum Einstimmen in Ruby, dachte ich, kann so eine schnelle Einführung nicht schaden, wobei der Preis mit EUR 4,92 auch noch ein Schnäppchen schien. Aber das Machwerk ist nicht einen einzigen müden Zent wert, eine totale Fehlinvestition. Die Lektüre dauerte nicht mal 2 Stunden, aber mehr als 1+1=2 bzw. "Hallo Welt!" kann man aus dem Heftchen nicht lernen. Jedes Gratis-Tutorial im Web zu Ruby bietet ein Mehrfaches an Information.

Learning the basics of Python in a day is definitely possible. Python is known for its simplicity and readability, which makes it an excellent programming language for beginners. However, keep in mind that becoming proficient in Python or any programming language requires consistent practice and hands-on experience over time. Here's a suggested plan to learn the basics of Python in a day: Start with the fundamentals: Begin by understanding the basic syntax and structure of Python. Learn about variables, data types (such as numbers, strings, lists, and dictionaries), operators, and control flow statements (such as if-else and loops). Use interactive tutorials: Online platforms like Codecademy, Coursera, or DataCamp offer interactive Python courses that provide hands-on exercises to practice coding in Python. These tutorials often cover the basics and can help you grasp the concepts quickly. Practice coding: The key to learning Python is to practice coding. Write simple programs and experiment with different concepts you've learned. You can start with small exercises like writing a program to calculate the factorial of a number or finding prime numbers. Utilize online resources: Take advantage of the numerous online resources available, such as tutorials, documentation, and forums. Websites like w3schools.com, realpython.com, and python.org have extensive documentation and tutorials for Python. Join a Python community: Engaging with a Python community can be beneficial for learning and problem-solving. Online forums like Stack Overflow or Reddit's r/learnpython can help you find answers to specific questions or provide guidance on your coding journey. Work on mini-projects: Once you have a basic understanding of Python, challenge yourself with small projects. It could be something like creating a simple calculator, a text-based game, or a program that scrapes data from a website. These projects will help you apply what you've learned and reinforce your understanding. Remember that while learning the basics of Python in a day is feasible, it's just the starting point. Mastery and proficiency in any programming language come with practice and experience over time. So, continue to learn, build more complex projects, and explore different aspects of Python beyond the basics.

This is a must get book even for those of you that have no experience in programming. It is straight to the point and concise. Of course I've seen other books but this tops it all keeping it short, quick and not boring at all. It is also very basic so this is covering the fundamental parts of Python. For those of you that are experienced programmers, this is on version 2.7x.