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    Absolute Beginner's Python Programming: The Illustrated Guide to Learning Computer Programming
    Absolute Beginner's Python Programming: The Illustrated Guide to Learning Computer Programming
    Absolute Beginner's Python Programming: The Illustrated Guide to Learning Computer Programming
    Ebook257 pages2 hoursIllustrated Coding

    Absolute Beginner's Python Programming: The Illustrated Guide to Learning Computer Programming

    By Kevin Wilson

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    About this ebook

    Written as an illustrated, step-by-step guide and workbook for complete beginners, this illustrated, full color book will introduce you to the python programming language using clear explanations, diagrams, coded examples, lab exercises and video demos. 


    You'll begin by learning how to set up the python interpreter and development environment on your computer, then you'll dive straight into the basics of python such as python language syntax, python keywords, and how to write and execute python program.


    Next, you will learn how to work with python variables, basic data types, arithmetic, companion, and boolean operators.


    Furthermore, the book covers flow control constructs such as if/else statements and loops in python. You'll also learn how to define and use functions, recursion, and exception handling, as well as a look at the principles of object-oriented programming.


    You'll also learn how to use turtle graphics to draw various shapes and patterns, and how to build a graphical user interface using tkinter. The last section covers developing a game using the PyGame module and how to add graphics, create basic animations, and user interactivity. 


    At the end of each chapter, you'll find various lab exercises to test what you've learned in the chapter. Also included is a growing repository of sample python source code, bonus material for each chapter, videos, and model solutions to lab exercises to further enhance your learning experience.


    Absolute Beginner's Python Programming Guide will give you the tools, confidence, and inspiration to start writing Python programs. If you are a beginner, a developer, a student, or someone who wants to learn on their own, this book is for you.


    What You Will Learn


    Gain an understanding of computer programming with python


    Understand different data and data types in python


    Work with Classes and OOP in python


    Build interfaces, simple games, and web development with Python


    This Book Is For


    beginners


    developers


    students


    anyone who wants to learn Python programming on their own.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherElluminet Press
    Release dateMay 12, 2023
    ISBN9781913151867
    Absolute Beginner's Python Programming: The Illustrated Guide to Learning Computer Programming
    Author

    Kevin Wilson

    KEVIN WILSON is Vice President of Videologies, Inc., a company that specializes in training administrative professionals in Fortune 500 companies. JENNIFER WAUSON is President of Videologies, Inc.

    Read more from Kevin Wilson

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      Book preview

      Absolute Beginner's Python Programming - Kevin Wilson

      Intro to Computer Programming

      What is a computer program? A computer program is a set of concise instructions written in a programming language that are executed in sequence in order to achieve a task.

      A computer program usually takes some data such as a string, or a number and performs some kind of processing to produce results. We usually refer to the data as the program’s input, and the results as the program’s output.

      To write computer programs we use a computer programming language. There are many different languages such as BASIC, C, C++ and Python. In this guide, we are going to concentrate on the Python programming language.

      Every computer program manipulates data to produce a result, so most languages allow the programmer to choose names for each item of data.

      These items are called variables. A variable is as the name suggests is an item that can contain different values as the program is being executed. Variables can store data of different types, and different types can do different things. For example, a variable could be an integer to store a whole number, a float to store numbers with decimal places, a string to store text, or a list to store multiple data items.

      If we wrote a program to calculate the area of a triangle, we could have integer or float type variables for the length, the height, and one for the result as they are all numbers. The processing part of the program would use the numbers stored in the length and height variable, then assign the result to the variable for result. We’ll take a look at variables and data types in more detail in chapter 3

      In larger programs, we often need to make decisions based on user input, a calculated result or condition. In this case, we use an if statement. This is called selection. Some blocks of code might also need to be repeated, in this case we use a loop. This is called repetition. We’ll take a closer look at this in chapter 4.

      Many modern computer programs have fancy graphical user interfaces that allow the user to interact with buttons, windows and menus. These are known as software applications or apps. We’ll take a look at building a simple app with a graphical user interface in chapter 11.

      The Python programming language has specific facilities to enable us to implement the concepts outlined above. Many of these will be introduced throughout this guide.

      Introducing Python

      Python is a high level language developed by Guido van Rossum in the late ‘80s and is used in web development, scientific applications, gaming, AI, and is well suited to education for teaching computer programming.

      Python is designed to be an easily readable language. Therefore, it uses an uncluttered formatting style, and often uses meaningful English keywords and function names.

      Python is an interpreted programming language, meaning Python programs are written in a text editor and then put through a Python interpreter to be executed.

      Python is used in the field of artificial intelligence and can be found in many day-to-day applications. Streaming services such as Spotify use Python for data analysis, particularly user’s listening habits in order to offer suggestions on which artist to follow, other music a particular user might be interested in and so on. Python is also used within Netflix’s machine-learning algorithms for recommending relevant content to users, monitoring browsing habits, and marketing.

      In the world of games development, Python is used as a companion language, meaning Python scripts are used to add customizations to the core gaming engine, script AI behaviors, or server side elements. The performance of Python isn’t fast enough for coding graphics intensive, higher end games, however you can create simple games with Python using the pygame module. We’ll take a look at this in chapter 12.

      Python is used in web development and allows a web developer to develop dynamic web apps very quickly. More in chapter 13.

      Python is a multi platform language and is available for Windows, MacOS, Linux and the Raspberry Pi.

      Setting Up

      To start coding, you’ll need a computer - either Windows, MacOS or Linux, and an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) with the Python interpreter. Let’s install Python.

      Install on Windows

      In our lab, we’re using windows workstations, so we’ll need to install the Python Development Environment for Windows.

      Open your web browser and navigate to the following website

      www.python.org/downloads/windows

      From the downloads page, select the ‘executable installer’ of latest stable release.

      Click ‘run’ when prompted by your browser. Or click ‘python-x.x.x-amd64.exe’ if you’re using Chrome.

      Once the installer starts, make sure ‘add python 3.x to path’ is selected, then click ‘customize installation’ to run through the steps to complete the installation.

      Make sure you select all the tick boxes for all the optional features.

      Click ‘next’.

      Make sure ‘install for all users’ is selected at the top of the dialog box. Click ‘install’ to begin.

      Click ‘disable path length limit’ to make sure Python runs smoothly on Windows and allow long file names.

      Click ‘close’ to finish the installation.

      You’ll find the Python Development Environment (IDLE) and the Python interpreter, in the Python folder on your start menu.

      Install on MacOS

      To install Python 3 with the Official Installer, open your web browser and navigate to the following website

      www.python.org/downloads/macos

      Click download python.

      You’ll find the package in your downloads folder. Double click on the package to begin the installation

      Run through the installation wizard. Click ‘continue’.

      Once the installation is complete, you’ll find python in the applications folder in finder, or on the launch pad.

      Install on Linux

      If you are running a linux distribution such as Ubuntu or have a Raspberry Pi, you can install python using the terminal. You’ll find the terminal app in

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