Written by Michele Pratusevich. When learning how to program, I always recommend having a project or application in mind. For me, it makes it easier to concentrate and learn specific skills and flex the critical thinking muscle. What better project to attempt than the latest game craze, Wordle? In this post-essay, I’ll take you through the steps required to write your own version of Wordle on the command-line without a GUI in Python.
Written by Michele Pratusevich. One barrier to learning programming is getting your development environment set up. Whether you are on Windows, OSX, or Ubuntu, this guide will help you set up your computer with a basic Python installation so you can start your own journey with Python!
This post is written by Michele Pratusevich. I occasionally listen to a podcast called Talk Python to Me on my commute. Last week I listened to the 100th episode, where Guido van Rossum, the creator of the Python language, talks about how he got into programming and his ideas about the future of Python.
When you are starting to learn Python, you have to decide whether to learn Python 2 or Python 3. Good news is, when you’re starting out, it doesn’t matter! In beginner code, the differences are minimal - in this post we will discuss the 3 differences beginners will notice: print, input, and division. Why is it different and why is it a problem? The interpreters are different!
Some people learn better with a reference book in hand. Here are a few of my recommendations for books - some are specifically for learning Python and others are for learning programming in general. These book recommendations are on the resources for learners page as well.
Practice Python aims to provide basic exercises for Python learners to discover Python, but it is certainly not a full and comprehensive resource. There are plenty of other resources out there online (both free and not free) that Practice Python recommends.
This post is written by Michele Pratusevich. I love the Python programming language, and I love computational photography. This post describes how to make (almost) any Instagram filter with about 15 lines of Python, using the (now-defunct) Gotham Instagram filter as a case study. I presented this at a lighting talk at the Boston Python Meetup on December 20th, and you can find my slides on my personal site.
Practice Python is doing well with exercises, solutions, comments, etc. But it needs more! So, I have set up a blog section of Practice Python, which will be updated whenever I have something interesting to say about Python!
Programming is the missing link in education. It lets you explore, play, work with others, and fail in a safe environment. Everyone should learn to program.