Resources on Learning Python

[muzikman]

I have been reading the pdf book Think Like a Scientist. Here are a list of pros and cons.

Cons:

This could also be a pro but there is a lot of theoretical math that he speaks about. Good things I took all the CS Math courses.
The exercises at the end of each chapter lack more descriptive ways on how and what to use in the exercise.

Pros:

He is more concerned with writing code that is easier for someone to understand than taking a little hit on performance.
He also uses a lot of primitive data types, instead of using the built in functions that can decrease performance. Why use the

sum()

function when you can just use a running total such as

sum =+ num

.
#Substitute internal functions when you can, e.g. math.squrt(2.0) is the same as

num = 2.0 ** 0.5

I really like that a lot.


He likes to stay away from complex conditional and logical expressions. He doesn't recommend using the "not" keyword.
He also has some nice little tricks about programming in general. Things like #Intialize variables with condition included

sword_check = sword_charge >= 0.90
shield_check = shield_energy >= 100

if sword_check and shield_check:
   print("The dragon crumples in a heap. You rescue the gorgeous princess!")
else:
   print("Your attack has no effect, the dragon fries you to a crisp!")

Basically, he gives a different perspective from a mathematician. This really helps when wanting to use primitive data types instead of internal functions.

I recommend this book to most everyone. However, if you are a beginner with no programming experience at all; I would suggest something else.