Beginning Programming with Python For Dummies

Self study course, got it for my son. He likes it, easy to understand.

Excellent book for a beginner starting out with python. It is a step by step guide and helps the user with the know-how of ipython notebook which comes with Anaconda.

There are Python programming books written by authors who clearly know their stuff but fail to teach what they know. Then there are those who are sketchy on their knowledge but talk a good talk. This author gets it right on all scores. It begins with technicalities that need to be made familiar with, which can be a tad off putting. You can skip through that and comeback later. The advice on what to download to begin is clear and useful. The negatives are that the publishers could have a better job because the print is sometimes feint just where you need it to be clear. The other is that the Dummies website is useless when you want to download the pre-written code for the practice applications. This can be easily remedied by Googling it. It's also in the book which I just copied anyway. Otherwise I can't fault this book. I began knowing nothing but I'm now writing code and looking to do an OU Degree course at some point...

I just got the book, opened it and at first thought I'd been given a Hebrew edition. I squinted my eyes and realized it was indeed English. The publisher or author simply selected the worst, most illegible font. I have to look away after only 5 minutes of reading because it hurts my eyes. What were they thinking?

This book is for beginners - ABSOLUTE beginners. If you have any programming knowledge at all this is not the book for you, but if you're looking to get started in Python programming with an easy to read book with exercises then it's definitely for you!