Resources

This is a general list of interesting and/or useful Python materials. If you find useful stuff that isn’t on the list, please suggest it to the instructor or the TA …

Books, tutorials, etc.

  • the official Python3 documentation at python.org is the most comprehensive option for everything that is part of the Python3 programming language
    • these can get a little technical, but they are the final word on what any function or class does
  • Python for Beginners from the Python Software Foundation
  • Python Programming for the Humanities
  • CodingBat is a good source of practice problems. Make sure to click on the Python tab rather than the Java tab!

Bits and pieces of documentation

Other tools

  • typing help("topic") in Python will give you information about any Python function, class, etc.. Unfortunately you have to know what to ask: for example, help("power") doesn’t work but help("pow") does (because the Python function for raising a number to a power is pow(), not power()).
  • Python Tutor is a neat little tool that shows you what all your variables are doing as you move through a Python program. Be sure to choose Python 3 from the drop-down menu!
  • PythonAnywhere is another resource for developing and running Python in the cloud
  • a handy online Python3 interpreter

Forums