Beginning Programming with Python For Dummies.pdf

About This Book
Beginning Programming with Python For Dummies is all about getting up and
running with Python quickly. You want to learn the language fast so that you
can become productive in using it to perform your real job, which could be
anything. Unlike most books on the topic, this one starts you right at the
beginning by showing you what makes Python different from other languages
and how it can help you perform useful work in a job other than programming.
As a result, you gain an understanding of what you need to do from the
start, using hands-on examples and spending a good deal of time performing
actually useful tasks. You even get help with installing Python on your particular
system.
When you have a good installation on whatever platform you’re using, you
start with the basics and work your way up. By the time you finish working
through the examples in this book, you’ll be writing simple programs and performing tasks such as sending an e-mail using Python. No, you won’t be
an expert, but you will be able to use Python to meet specific needs in the job
environment. To make absorbing the concepts even easier, this book uses the
following conventions:
✓ Text that you’re meant to type just as it appears in the book is bold. The
exception is when you’re working through a step list: Because each step
is bold, the text to type is not bold.
✓ When you see words in italics as part of a typing sequence, you need to
replace that value with something that works for you. For example, if
you see “Type Your Name and press Enter,” you need to replace Your
Name with your actual name.
✓ Web addresses and programming code appear in monofont. If you’re
reading a digital version of this book on a device connected to the
Internet, note that you can click the web address to visit that website,
like this: www.dummies.com.
✓ When you need to type command sequences, you see them separated
by a special arrow, like this: File➪New File. In this case, you go to the File
menu first and then select the New File entry on that menu. The result is
that you see a new file created.