Python Programming for the Absolute Beginner, 3rd Edition [Paperback]

Michael Dawson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2010 | ISBN-10: 1435455002 | ISBN-13: 978-1435455009 | Edition: 3rd

If you are new to programming with Python and are looking for a solid introduction, this is the book for you. Developed by computer science instructors, books in the "for the absolute beginner" series teach the principles of programming through simple game creation. You will acquire the skills that you need for practical Python programming applications and will learn how these skills can be put to use in real-world scenarios. Throughout the chapters, you will find code samples that illustrate concepts presented. At the end of each chapter, you will find a complete game that demonstrates the key ideas in the chapter, a summary of the chapter, and a set of challenges that tests your newfound knowledge. By the time you finish this book, you'll be well versed in Python and be able to apply the basic programming principles you've learned to the next programming language you tackle.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

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Features

From the Publisher

• Perfect for the beginning programmer who wants to learn Python--a powerful, flexible, and concise programming language.


• Each new concept is taught using a simple example program, and an end-of-chapter project ties together all of the concepts learned.


• Each end-of-chapter project is game-based, making programming fun and accessible.


• The accompanying website contains all of the software needed to write and run the programs in the book.

Product Details

• Paperback: 455 pages
• Publisher: Course Technology PTR; 3rd edition (January 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1435455002
• ISBN-13: 978-1435455009
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,633 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #1 in Books > Computers & Technology > Programming > Languages & Tools > Python
  • #11 in Books > Computers & Technology > Programming > Introductory & Beginning

More About the Author

Michael Dawson has worked as both a programmer and a computer game designer and producer. In addition to real world game industry experience, Mike earned his bachelor's degree in Computer Science from the University of Southern California. Currently, he teaches game programming in the Game Production Department of the Los Angeles Film School. Mike has also taught game programming to students through UCLA Extension and The Digital Media Academy at Stanford. He's the author of three other books: Beginning C++ through Game Programming, Guide to Programming with Python, and C++

Projects: Programming with Text-Based Games. You can visit his website at www.programgames.com to learn more or to get support for any of his books.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Supporting Software Download Not Available., January 14, 2010

By 

Richard Wanat - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Python Programming for the Absolute Beginner, 3rd Edition (Paperback)

The book is excellent but all the comments before this one apply to previous editions. Those editions included a CD with supporting software and all the programs discussed in the book. This third edition (Jan 1, 2010) asks the book owner to connect to a web site to download the support files. The instructions to do this are incorrect as the book now has a new publisher. Once on the web site, the files cannot be found. A phone call to their customer service was unproductive. "Our editorial staff will contact you by e-mail". Didn't happen.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fine Choice for First Programming Book, August 4, 2010

By 

Sanford - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Python Programming for the Absolute Beginner, 3rd Edition (Paperback)

I am a beginner with respect to programming, and do not have a particularly technical background: I know almost no math though I know formal logic pretty well. I was interested in learning something about computer programming just for fun and have looked through a number of books about a number of languages. I even spent some time with C before I decided on Python. To an absolute beginner, it seemed a relatively intuitive language without some of the messy detail required by C, for example, about memory allocation. I chose this book simply because it looked fun and very clear. Each chapter focuses on tools needed to create games. I do not have any interest at all in playing computer games of any kind, but it is a relatively painless way to learn Python. I also found the exercises at the end of each chapter very good. They are hard enough but not too hard. They generally required a fair amount of time and effort, but I was able to finally figure out all of them. This is important since I am doing this on my own.

The Cons: The book aims to be simple and brief, but sometimes it is too simple and brief. Yes I learned to get the computer to do this or that, but I did not fully get some of the concepts. In fact, I think the book moved on to fancy stuff like graphics before I got down all I needed of the basics such as file control. Perhaps someone who already knew something about programming would have had less trouble. For example, the material on writing to a file stored on the hard drive for future use was fine, as far as it went. But I realized, when trying to write a program of my own, that I did not understand a key point. If you have recorded some data to a file, and then want to revise that data, Python rewrites the entire file. Huh? What about my original data? It gets over written. There has to be a solution to this problem, but I did not find it in the book. After hours of work I devised a way to get the right result, but it was very messy and, when I posted a question on a Python forum, I found there was a simple way to do what I wanted. Maybe I am a bit thick, but I think this could have been directly covered in the book. There were several other topics that needed more discussion.

Still, keeping in mind that this book only goes so far, it is a very good introduction to Python. But if you are serious about learning Python, at some point, you are going to need one of those big fat and far more boring books.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow...I am hooked, November 28, 2010

By 

Teresa - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Python Programming for the Absolute Beginner, 3rd Edition (Paperback)

I have tried many programming books. I have even taken a programming class or two but it has never really clicked before. There have always been to many jumps from explanation to assumed understanding. I would get lost and things never clicked. Recently I decided to give programming another chance because I believed somewhere in the back of my mind that I should be able to figure this out. I have been a system administrator for years but have never delved into scripting or programming before because I thought maybe I was just never meant to be a programmer. I decided maybe it was just the way I learn. So I decided first to start out with a HeadFirst book. It lost me immediately. The way it was presented in that book definitely didn't click for me. I set back to the task of finding a book and came across this one. This is it. I love the way he goes through the code and then has you run it and then explains what every line of code is doing. This approach has finally made things start making sense. I am even able to figure out the Challenges at the end of the chapter and I am loving it! Thank you Michael Dawson!

On another note...I notice that people are having problems finding the files that go with the book. If you take the link recommended it the book and then go to downloads it is rather confusing, but if you go to the link recommended in the book and then do a search for python and then take the link for this book, another screen will come up that will give you an option to view available downloads. Harder than it needs to be admittedly, but that is how I found them.