programming

[ryn1727]

im going to start learning how to program, and from what people have said python is a good start so i am going to start programing in python, but i was wondering what i can and cant do with python and what kind of things i cant make with python

[Dun'kalis]

Python is great. Its simple, easy, and very powerful. You can do virtually anything in Python, and there's not much you CAN'T do.

Since its object oriented, you'll be ready to learn C++ and Java very quickly once you know Python.

[FossiL]

Python is great, not just for beginners. Python takes you down to business quick without much of the fuzz you get in other languages.

I started out with Java, but Python has a very clear and easy syntax which probably suits the beginner (like myself ;) better. Although Python is easy to get started with, it's compatibility with other languages is great - you can use Python together with C, C++ and Java (Jython).

If i were about to start from scratch again, i'd definitely choose Python. Infact i'm learning Python right now, based on the knowledge i got from my Javastudies things are going pretty smooth - just imagine the benefits of doing things the other way around.

Go Python !!

[reen]

i am in the same stuiation as ryn. this is one reason why i installed linux, (win sux is the other one). i also chose to learn python. a friend recommended it for the same reasons as the poster above mentoined.

ryn, i dont know how you wanna start with python, but a friend gave me a book: o'reilly, learning python. it rocks for beginners. if i worked it through and di not know what to programm there is the python cook book. also from o'reilly.

by the way, is shell skripting recommendable for beginners?

[Dun'kalis]

Try the Python tutorial, included with the Python documentation. Once you read that, the API reference will make sense, and you can begin writing quickly.

Thats the beauty of Python: A very simple language, but immense power lurking in there.

[error27]

I love Python.

After a couple days of studying the language, I felt as if I was at the point where I could write C++ extensions.

The thing about python is that it was written so recently and the authors clearly learned from the good and bad parts in Perl, C++ and Java.

I have never seen any really large Python programs. For example, OpenOffice.org is 8 million lines of code. I don't know how Python would work for a project like that.

Because it is so new Python is always changing. At work we upgraded one of our RedHat systems and it screwed us up for a couple hours because the either Python or one of the Python libraries had changed.

Also some of my scripts and program have to be able to run on RedHat 6.2 up to RedHat 8.0. At that point I just write in Perl.

Those are the only limitations I can think of for Python.