When most people hear of Python, they think of the big snake native to most African and Asian countries. For others, Python is one of the most popular high level programming language used today in the industry and academic institutions because of its ease to learn and create code fairly quickly.
It is mostly common amongst mathematicians, physicist, etc because of its ability to handle big number better than other programming languages such as Java.
Python was created in the late 1980s by a Dutch programmer called Guido van Rossum and he specifically chose to call it Python not after the snake but after a British sketch comedy show called Monty Python.
If you are interested in learning how to write code's, python would be the best language to learn because as powerful as its is, it has the easiest syntax and due to its popularity, you are never going to run out of reference materials.
To start programming in Python, you will need to go to the Python Software Foundation website and get the latest source code, preferably Python 3.* You can still still use Python 2 if you are using a reference book that was written before 2009 which is still going to be OK but for enhanced features and security patches, pick the latest.
The next thing you will need is an Integrated Development Environment known as an IDE and there are a lot of them on the market. Pick the one that is free, small and has a simplified graphical user interface with debugging capability. The debug tool is really important especially for an amateur programmer because it will help you spot part of the code that is producing unwanted results. There are lots of IDE on the market, but you can start with free IDEs such as PyCharm or Wingware.
Programming guru's do not really need IDE, a simple notepad will get the job done and the program is executed via the command line. Whilst we are talking about notepad, you might also want to get yourself Notepad++ and Sublime Text to use when you reach the point where you can code without an IDE.
One of the most important resource you are going to need is a reference book to help you understand some of the concepts better. A hard copy book is important because it will still be able to guide you way better especially in cases where you have no access to the internet to look up concepts that are bothering you. If you cannot find a good book in your local bookstore, look at getting anyone of these books from Amazon.
Programming guru's do not really need IDE, a simple notepad will get the job done and the program is executed via the command line. Whilst we are talking about notepad, you might also want to get yourself Notepad++ and Sublime Text to use when you reach the point where you can code without an IDE.
One of the most important resource you are going to need is a reference book to help you understand some of the concepts better. A hard copy book is important because it will still be able to guide you way better especially in cases where you have no access to the internet to look up concepts that are bothering you. If you cannot find a good book in your local bookstore, look at getting anyone of these books from Amazon.
That's pretty much all you need to start learning programming concepts by using Python. Click and bookmark the label The Python Series to see all posts related to Python. This series of post won't cover the hardcore stuffs, just the basics to get you interested in programming with Python.
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