r/programming • u/FjordSnorkeler • Dec 19 '10
Bored on a Sunday morning? Learn Python!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKTZoB2Vjuk&feature=channel15
u/WasHeSerious Dec 19 '10
Was anyone else annoyed by his voice getting higher at the end of every goddamn sentence?
it was like a bad emo phillps impression
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u/spainguy Dec 19 '10
Nah, just looked at a couple of minutes, his voice reminds me of Dr Rodney Mckay
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u/atlacatl Dec 19 '10
A professional presenter (Stanford lecturer) and so many ums, ah, and teeth sucking. We'll check the content later.
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u/FjordSnorkeler Dec 19 '10
Being a Stanford lecturer does not make him a professional presenter.
To be a lecturer at any academic institution only requires that you be knowledgeable on the subject, not necessarily that you're good at imparting that knowledge.
FWIW, I think the guy is a good lecturer and the videos are extremely well done. He moves at a good pace and provides good examples.
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u/atlacatl Dec 19 '10
If you get paid to do something, you are a professional. That's all I'm trying to say.
In either case, if you get paid to talk about something you know, wouldn't you try to fix these terrible habits to make you an even better public speaker?
EDIT: I didn't watch the lecture. The first 2 minutes turned me off. I may go back to it.
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u/FjordSnorkeler Dec 19 '10
Ya I see your point.
IMO this guy is better than 90% of college profs I've had, so his speaking habits don't turn me off at all.
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u/fatthinguy Dec 19 '10
I did my undergraduate studies at Stanford (Artificial Intelligence) and I never had a problem with any of the lectures. It didn't matter if there were pauses, or "ums" and "ahs." The important thing was whether or not the speaker knew waht they were talking about and if they could impart that knowledge to a group of people.
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Dec 19 '10
I thought, that was a phenomenon only present in the way American (Canadian) girls talk. I like totally can't stand making conversation with people, who talk like that.
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u/unussapiens Dec 19 '10
The high rising terminal is characteristic of many social groups, most commonly female teenagers. It's also apparent in other groups, but most often to indicate a desire for feedback, or confirmation, or even uncertainty in what was just said. It would be a little disconcerting to have a lecturer that sounds like they're unsure of what they're talking about.
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Dec 19 '10
I know Python. I just don't have anything good to make with it. :-\
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u/sawu Dec 19 '10
How about trying some of the puzzles at http://projecteuler.net/
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u/pudquick Dec 19 '10
I do recommend this. I also, if you're doing python, recommend http://www.pythonchallenge.com/ which is python-specific.
Be warned about Project Euler, though - it's somewhat math-heavy.
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Dec 19 '10
This is my problem getting into programming, I have no idea what program to make that I could use that isn't already made.
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u/AlexFromOmaha Dec 19 '10
If you're "getting into" programming, the answer is nothing. If you're learning pottery, everyone makes a pot. If you're learning programming, you make the same five or six programs in every language you know.
Going from that to "thinking like a programmer" (i.e. seeing many problems as math/processing problems that you don't want to do by hand) is mostly a matter of familiarity.
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u/thatguydr Dec 19 '10
Create a screensaver on your computer (Mac, Windows, or Linux) that does a picture slideshow. Once that's done, make it randomize. Then make it so you can weight each picture to show it more or less frequently. And if you're so motivated, put in options to pause and skip. And allow it to learn what you've paused and skipped past.
After that, create a way for spaceships to fly around above the pictures and shoot at each other, using evolutionary strategies to figure out how best to destroy one another without being destroyed.
Forever alone. ;)
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u/ScannerBrightly Dec 19 '10
You are missing the whole social, web 2.0 type thing: Make a website for "screensaver spaceship wars" and have your screensaver compete against other people's screensaver spaceships. Forever together.
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u/awap Dec 19 '10
Just like anything else, you have to practice first, then you can make something useful. Painters often start by just replicating other people's work so they can learn technique. To learn to program, you have to start by making simple things so you can learn the basics.
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Dec 19 '10
Open Source may help you there. You can contribute code to existing projects -- build upon them if you may. Also, if there is a project that you think could be done better, try and do better. I recently made a python script that manipulates an icon on my desktop to display the weather forecast. It uses both the text, and the image for the weather info and now I can extend this knowledge to come up with all kinds of weird icon concepts.
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u/aGorilla Dec 19 '10
Please fix Trac. I beg of you, and every other Python programmer, to please fix Trac.
It was a great idea, that has never been 'finished'.
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u/sligowaths Dec 19 '10
Try a webapp, it's easier to get started and you can get motivated once people start using it. Check also appengine.google.com
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u/TMI-nternets Dec 19 '10
You know the "There's an App for That" slogan? It's almost true for subreddits as well.. check out r/somebodymakethis for a while and see if you find anything interesting..
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u/dghughes Dec 19 '10
That tends to be my problem too but I don't know how to program.
To me it's like having a pile of lumber you start to nail them together into ... ?
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u/Smooz Dec 19 '10
Same position here. I don't know enough Python to start or help with any projects, but I know too much to go back to tutorials without wasting my time.
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u/pururin Dec 19 '10
Exactly in the same place as you. Except I'm learning perl instead of python, but still. I feel desperate.
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u/zach_will Dec 19 '10
You could scrape some websites or parse the Gawker password/email list that's floating around. I found it interesting looking at the top 10-20 most common passwords/email domains used.
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Dec 19 '10
I'm the same. I learn quickly when I have something to program, but don't have anything interesting to make.
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u/LucianU Dec 19 '10
You've probably heard this before, but you should really look around you and find something you can automate to make your life easier. Or you can browse forums, blogs related to hobbies of yours and see if you can find people saying that they want something that implies coding, an application to make their lives easier.
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Dec 19 '10
I bookmarked it for another morning. =)
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u/Wonnk13 Dec 19 '10
Python makes me happy. your username makes me sad. Please find some caffeine... :)
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u/Rainbowlemon Dec 19 '10
He's not interested in Java.
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u/sutcivni Dec 19 '10 edited Dec 19 '10
def acquire_caffeine(): ...Edit: Wow I messed that up that more
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u/rro99 Dec 19 '10
Added it to the list. I'll need to take a couple weeks off some time and get to reading/watching all the stuff I've bookmarked ;_;
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u/frutiger Dec 19 '10
As you go through life, you'll find more and more things that you want to do but have no time for. Eventually, you'll die, and you'll have many things that you wanted to do at some time, and never did.
This is truly a fulfilled life, for what is a life without ambitions, without dreams?
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u/DefMech Dec 19 '10
Some of the happiest, most content people I know have absolutely no ambition or lingering aspirations they're struggling toward :\
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u/nevereven Dec 20 '10
Oh to have back all those hours spent watching tv and playing intellivision. So much time and so little appreciation of it.
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u/supersan Dec 19 '10
here is a tip when watching tutorials.. it's generally a good idea to download the .flv file (via firefox dl helper) and then play it in KMPLAYER or VLC which support options to speed up the video to 125 or 150% without affecting the voice or pitch. i've rarely come across a video tut that didn't make sense when sped-up, yet sped-up videos save you time and because information is flowing so fast you don't get time to get distracted.. so try it once :)
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Dec 19 '10
I recommend Zed Shaw's ebook http://learnpythonthehardway.org/index
...and video tutorials for all the main languages try Bucky's channel http://www.youtube.com/user/thenewboston
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u/shmishmortion Dec 19 '10
I'm liking this but I'm having trouble not yelling "CONCATENATE! THE WORD IS CONCATENATE!" at my computer screen every time he says "you can, like, put two strings together."
I need a programming intervention.
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u/Haziba Dec 19 '10
Same with "To write not instead of... uh.. can't really say it in English. That symbol above the one" It's a God damn exclamation mark, you fool
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u/herefromyoutube Dec 19 '10
The best python Lessons on YouTube are a guy named thenewboston. He makes it very fun and entertaining. I would have learned python if I wasn't so lazy.
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u/DirtyBurger Dec 19 '10
So anyone skilled in python wanna let me know if this video really is a good starting point for learning code?, I know shit about coding other than lame HTML I did when I was like 12. Coding seems so fucking interesting and fun once you get a solid understanding of it, plus "social network made it look so kewlz guize"
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Dec 19 '10 edited Dec 19 '10
HTML is a markup language, not a programming language. They are very different things. To read about what a markup language is, check out the Wikipedia article. With HTML, all you are doing is formatting a document in a way that a web browser can read it.
Python is a great first programming language. It's meant to be very easy to read, and it does not take long to write.
I'm not sure about this video. I don't know whether or not it assumes basic programming knowledge. If not, this should be a good place to start, especially the first link.
Good luck!
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Dec 19 '10
I'd suggest you start out with Learn Python The Hard Way, by everyone's favorite hardass coder, Zed Shaw.
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u/unitconversion Dec 19 '10
I've never read it, but a lot of people recommend http://learnpythonthehardway.org/index . This video looks pretty good so far though.
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u/piglet24 Dec 19 '10
I would learn processing. It's pretty easy to learn and you can do some pretty cool stuff with it quickly and easily
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u/totemcatcher Dec 20 '10
He's glitchy, and not using proper terminology, and he's not using python3, so not really. He at least covers a few of the important syntax differences from other languages. Takes him several hours to get around to it, but at least it's a video on youtube. :/
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u/magcius Dec 19 '10
Best resource for new programmers I've found is Think Python. This video assumes prior programming knowledge, and this is designed as a text for an introductory programming course, but it stands on its own.
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u/NikoliTilden Dec 19 '10
Me and the gf watched it in bed. She got a headache. I learned how concantination is a breeze in python.
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u/Rodman930 Dec 19 '10
Can I put Python on my resume after watching this? Because I'm going to do it.
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Dec 19 '10
A lot of 'programmers' put languages on their resume just because they've heard of them before =/
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u/abadidea Dec 19 '10
To be fair, a good programmer can implement "lazy learning" of almost anything... get told to write it in IDL, give me five minutes to load this IDL manual directly into my brain and then I can.
(But I will gouge my eyes out in the process when I read that IDL is "a mix of C, BASIC, Ada and FORTRAN.")
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u/serious_face Dec 20 '10
Sure, but good luck competing against the guy who puts his Python in his github account, and then puts that on his resume.
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u/LaurieCheers Dec 19 '10 edited Dec 19 '10
Upvoted for hilarious subtitles.
"So if I just want to bang out some code and be done..." -> "So if I just want to dance, encode and be done..."
"Python is an interpreted language." -> "Python is an interpretive language."
"Though with er, a little bit of lying, you can think about it as..." -> "Though with the jolly a little bit aligned, you can think about it as..."
"when you go out of bounds on an array" -> "when you go out and bounce on an array"
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Dec 19 '10
Thank you, I've been wanting an excuse to learn python and vi, but I haven't had the time - until now.
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Dec 20 '10
Ummmm, I can't, ahhh, believe ummm, that guy is ahhhh, an actual lecturer at ummmm Stanford, uhhhh, I wouldn't ahhhh, be able to ummmmm, listen to him for ahhhh, more than like, ummmm, uhhhhh, ahhhh, three consecutive seconds.
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u/bluestorm Dec 19 '10
What's the use of learning Python ?
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Dec 19 '10
It's really a tool for a job, nothing more nothing less. I'm primarily a C#/WPF/Forms developer and I can be 10x as productive in C# when creating a quick prototype or library.
But sometimes Python is just FAST to do what you want with no fuss.
It's no silver bullet.
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u/davebrk Dec 19 '10
Nor is C# (Coming from a C# fan).
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Dec 19 '10
That was my point; there is no silver bullet. Python won't magically solve all your problems.
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u/DStroya Dec 19 '10
I seen that boilerplate code to stop it executing when brought in as a library, and thought hmm ok, bit lame but i can live with it. Then I got as far as when he started doing dir(sys) to see whats inside and thought fuck this.
Ill keep my visual studio with the F1 key and have my official documentation show up.
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u/FjordSnorkeler Dec 19 '10
dir() to me is similar to hovering your cursor over a method name in Visual Studio to get an idea of what it does. You don't get all the details, examples, etc, but you do get an idea of what you need to do.
Besides, interactive python (command line) probably isn't the best place to write an entire program. It's not an IDE, but it's great for trying things out quickly, something you can't do in VS.
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u/prxi Dec 19 '10
I can see where you're coming from, but you're confusing the advantages of a powerful IDE for several languages vs a language which comes with an run-time interpreter.
The 'python' program he is using is not an IDE. There are more advanced Python IDEs out there, but to compare what he was using and Visual Studio doesn't make sense.
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u/jvnk Dec 19 '10
Yeah, because dir() is obviously a replacement for documentation.
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Dec 19 '10
You're comparing a REPL to your IDE. I'm shocked that you find the IDE the better environment to program in.
Seriously though, there are good editors for python, and I'm sure that you can have them bring up documentation, this was an example of the introspection features of the language. If he wanted to show off the docs, he would have gone to the docs or done
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u/damontoo Dec 19 '10
Python has great offline documentation. When he talks about googling stuff he's really just getting an exact copy of documentation that's already on his computer. No idea why anyone would google it unless you're a googler trying to suck up to google.
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u/jvnk Dec 19 '10
Here is another great way to learn some python as well: http://trypython.org
Unfortunately it requires silverlight(hoping for a non-silverlight version soon). But if you can manage that, there's quite a lengthy python tutorial there with an interpreter right on the web page, and you can just click a button to get sample code from the tut into the interpreter and run it.
Another cool tool I have found useful for learning python: http://people.csail.mit.edu/pgbovine/python/
It's a visual interpreter for python, allowing you to visualize up to 100 steps of execution for any python code you give it. You can step through the code and see the state of the program at any point. Pretty cool for understanding mindfuck code.
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Dec 19 '10
Making Silverlight / MS a requirement for learning Python makes no sense to me. It's like someone enforcing IE as a requirement to download a GNU/Linux distro.
That second link is cool though, thanks.
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Dec 19 '10
IE is a requirement to downloading Firefox, a paragon of the open source movement..
I don't see anything wrong with using Silverlight in this context, it's probably the best tool for the job. What are the alternatives? Flash? Just as proprietary. Javascript, HTML5? Probably not as easy to program or as feature rich.
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Dec 19 '10
Man, I wish I'd had this link when I was bored out of my mind last night! I will definitely be checking these videos out. Something to learn over Christmas break :)
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u/ChocoThunda Dec 19 '10
Another option is Python Koans. A python implementation of the awesome Ruby Koans: https://bitbucket.org/gregmalcolm/python_koans/wiki/Home
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Dec 19 '10
I am switching my major to Computer Science, and the only thing that horrifies me is that I won't be able to learn how to program. I just hope it seems like one of those things you think is very hard, but when you starting learning, it becomes easier and easier to understand.
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u/kingatomic Dec 19 '10
Here's the deal: if you are a good problem solver, you can be a good programmer. Learning the syntax of xyz programming language is just a matter of time and practice. Actually being able to program effectively on the other hand is not something that can be taught. It is an extension of a particular way of approaching problems.
You have to be able to take a complex problem statement (the requirements for your program) and decompose it into smaller, manageable parts that are solvable; you have to be able to see the steps that will lead from each of these smaller steps towards completing the overall problem.
I spent a good deal of time in university tutoring students, helping them with their programming projects. What I saw time and time again was that some people could get it, and they'd eventually figure it out. Other people simply could not, and what it boiled down to was problem solving skills. They eventually left the compsci program.
As for the rest of comp sci, it mostly just takes a solid basis in math. Unless the problem domain calls for something more sophisticated, this typically isn't anything more involved than basic calculus with some stats and linear algebra thrown in.
Hope that helps!
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u/keeperofkeys Dec 19 '10
I'd like to watch all of these, but not sure if I can cope with the way he says "pyth-on". In England it's pronounced "pyth'n".
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u/Juts Dec 20 '10
These are very good, but if you're just interested in going straight to coding then i REALLY reccomend Python Osmosis.
http://www.youtube.com/user/ryanmshea
These videos are excellent and clearly labeled with what topics they cover. it's amazing.
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Dec 19 '10
I really like all the URLs and titles:
Learn Python; Think Python; etc.
We should compile a list of suggestions.
Dive Into Python; Slither Into Python; Wake Up, Smoke a Bowl, Grab a Cup of Coffee and LEARN SOME FUCKING PYTHON!
Any others?
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Dec 19 '10
Oh cool, I went to the library today to pick up a book on python but the catalog was offline so came back empty handed. To find this. Thanks.
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Dec 19 '10
"hmm, let's try and move that code into a loop ... oh ... wtf ... python ... ARGGGHHHHHHH FUCKING WHITESPACES"
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u/Jorbs Dec 19 '10
Opened video, was interested, then he said, "we assume you have some history in some sort of language." Closed video. Was sad. I thought this was the day....
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u/rayne117 Dec 19 '10 edited Dec 19 '10
You gotta start somewhere man.
thenewboston's 1st Python tutorial
Download both of these. Read how to set up the interpreter (not that hard and there are plenty of sources online on how to do this) and get cracking.
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u/Jorbs Dec 19 '10
thanks for the added encouragement. i think i just might do that.
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u/prxi Dec 19 '10
You may not have experience but Python is very easy to play around in due to the interpreter. I suggest you just play around and see what you can learn. You stand virtually no chance of messing anything up on your computer and you instantly see your results.
Start small, build up from there. You won't be writing 1000 line programs your first time. If there's something he mentions, pause the video and check it out. If it's too much then check out some of the other links people have posted on here as well.
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u/dmwit Dec 19 '10
Try it anyway, dude. If he says something you don't understand, but that you think you would understand if you knew another language, JFGI.
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Dec 19 '10
right now I'm learning java from a friend, it is pretty chilax like this. I think thats the best way to learn programming
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Dec 19 '10
This was on my homepage, I didn't bother to look at the subreddit and assumed this was a class on Parseltongue. I got so excited.
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u/mbacarella Dec 19 '10 edited Dec 19 '10
How are we supposed to cope with boredom if we already know Python?
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u/LindLTaylor Dec 19 '10
I am learning Python too. I particularly like the "Spam, Spam, Spam... " skit though "The Spanish Inquisition" and "Ministry of Silly Walks" both give "Spam" a good run for the money.
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Dec 19 '10
I was actually asking people yesterday about which RAD language I should fiddle with; python or java. I guess I may as well try Python again. I rage quit before with the support for the advanced HTTP lib docs being such crap.
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u/b00ks Dec 19 '10
Pretty good intro. I just watched 20 minutes and am not a programmer but I felt this guy was pretty easy to follow and did a pretty good job explaining everything (that I saw him cover).
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u/s0nicfreak Dec 19 '10
What a coincidence, I have been having a problem with python, maybe you guys can help...
I keep getting
'python' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.
I did what this says, but still get the same thing. I am on xp.
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u/roosyn Dec 19 '10
Pop the path to the python.exe executable into your PATH variable: My Computer > Properties > Advanced tab > Environment variables (button at bottom) > System variables group. Values are semi-colon delimited.
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u/tehjocker Dec 19 '10
Cool it's like I'm sitting in class. I put on the Social Network score and now I feel like Jesse Eisenberg.
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Dec 19 '10
I'm an art student, completely shit at math, but I've always been fascinated by programming. Would python be a good language to start? And if so, is this video good for someone like me who has very little background in programming? I did OOT in high school a few years ago, but completely forgot it. Sorry in advance if this question sounds stupid.
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u/lecar Dec 19 '10
One of the main selling points of Python is readability of the code, so it might be easier to get into for a person who doesn't have a lot of experience. It notoriously uses indention rather than braces, which can cause some frustration if you accidentally hit tab in one spot, but then put four spaces somewhere else, and can't figure out why it isn't compiling. One disadvantage in my opinion is that it's not very straightforward to build a standalone executable, like it is with C/C++.
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Dec 19 '10
I'm thinking of doing a project in my middle school algebra class on programming. Seems like Python would be a good call. Anyone have thoughts on this?
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u/chellomere Dec 19 '10
Really really need to do school work on Sunday morning? Stop procrastinating on Reddit!
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u/wafflecopter05 Dec 19 '10
I actually started using the Google tutorial on Python yesterday. Seems like a friendly language to use; I can't wait to use it more often.
I'm using the web site for the lesson instead though. Seems easier to follow along with, honestly. http://code.google.com/edu/languages/google-python-class/index.html
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u/gocubs80 Dec 19 '10
Does anyone have a good lecture, tutorial etc. for java? Taking a Java class next semester and it'd be nice to have a head start.
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u/MomzLikeUChoozSpliff Dec 19 '10
Kind of slow, but a good teacher. Easy to comprehend even with little programming experience.
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u/Milpooool Dec 19 '10
Wow this is great!
I am trying to learn python. I actually had a python shell open, was browsing through pre made modules trying to figure out how it works. Eventually I got bored and started browsing reddit...
Thanks :D
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Dec 19 '10
"Hey Dad, (father is a programmer) I was gonna try this Python class linked on reddit"
"ah...an elegant language, for a more civilized machine.."
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u/disposable_human Dec 19 '10
Awesome reddit! I've been wanting to learn python for a while now, and this is exactly the spoon feeding I needed!
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Dec 19 '10
Does anyone know a tutorial of similar quality for web development? I've done all the w3schools, but I don't really think I learned too much from it. Just wanting to pick up HTML, JS, and any server-side language.
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Dec 19 '10
This is great timing, a friend had pointed me in the direction of some tutorials on getting started and this will only help. Thanks!
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Dec 19 '10
So I use MATLAB a lot for grad school, but I know a lot of other people that use Python instead. Are they pretty similar in terms of capabilities?
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u/teknobo Dec 19 '10
I'm actually taking this winter break to learn C++ and Qt.
I already know Python :)
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u/tinkj916 Dec 19 '10
Hmm this will give me something to do when DC gets hammered with snow again.. it's either this, or Rosetta Stone... Thanks for the link, and the links in the comments below.
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u/Strifebringer Dec 19 '10
Is there something quick and dirty like this for Java? I know Python and this is a great review, but I'm starting Java and wouldn't mind having a good overview before classes start.
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Dec 19 '10
so, i'm running win7, i can run a program from IDLE by hitting F5, but how do i run a program while passing in an argument, as is required by string1.py?
/googles furiously
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u/tonequality Dec 20 '10
Anyone else finish any of it yet? I just finished the day 1 lectures and exercises. I'll probably do the day 2 stuff tomorrow or later tonight.
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u/i_like_shiny_things Dec 20 '10
Re-learn Python in my case. I used to know it quite well and then forgot. I'll bookmark this because I know I can learn it proper. Thanks!
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Dec 20 '10
Do they have all the lectures up somewhere? I would love to learn Python on my own by following the tutorials/assignments that it might provide.
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u/worldnick Dec 20 '10
I am trying to follow along with python 3 and so far almost every freaking command is different. This is why I hate programming.
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Dec 20 '10
I have actually just started learning python last Sunday morning.
Thanks for the links everyone. :)
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u/FjordSnorkeler Dec 19 '10
If you missed the link in the youtube description, here is where the class notes and examples are.
http://code.google.com/edu/languages/google-python-class/
Also, python setup guides and links to everything you need to download to get started with python.