Starting to Learn Python

There are many good sources around to learn Python. Many online tutorials are excellent. Check www.coursera.org for good MOOCs by Google, IBM and many universities. For specific questions and suggestions StackOverflow is the top authority.

Some online tutorials lack an emphasis on structured programming and object oriented programming. If you plan to become a Python specialist, make sure you know how to structure and do OO development.

It is very easy to get a Python program to work; but what if you have to do some maintenance in half a year? My hearty recommendation: use the possibilities of the language to the max!

Don't forget the packages!

Learning Python also means knowing what the Python Community does. Many excellent (and some not so good) packages have been developed by the Community. The packages range from mathematical problem solutions to character recognition to neural networks to big data. This is why we will discuss some of these packages in some of the following sections.

Always assume your problem has been solved already by someone else. So, before you start coding, check the community for available packages.

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