Learn to Program Using Python: A Tutorial for Hobbyists, Self-Starters, and All Who Want to Learn the Art of Computer Programming Book

	Preface	xi
Section 1	Introduction
Chapter 1	Who, What, and How?	3
	Who Is Programming For?	3
	What Will This Book Cover?	4
	Why Python?	5
	How to Read This Book	5
	How the Book Is Structured	6
Chapter 2	What Do I Need?	9
	The Human Aspects of Programming	9
	Prerequisites	10
	Python	11
Chapter 3	What Is Programming?	13
	A Definition	13
	A Little History	14
	The Common Features of All Programs	15
Chapter 4	Getting Started	23
	Using Python	23
	A Word about Python Error Messages	25
Section 2	Programming Fundamentals
Chapter 5	Simple Sequences	29
	Single Statements	29
	Python as a Calculator	30
	Using Format Strings	31
	Comments	33
	Accessing Modules	33
Chapter 6	The Raw Materials	35
	Data: A Definition	36
	Variables: A Definition	36
	Primitive Data Types	37
	Collections	43
	Advanced Data Types	50
	Python-Specific Operators	53
Chapter 7	More Sequences and Other Things	55
	Sequences Using Variables	56
	Calculating Areas	57
	The Twelve Times (Multiplication) Table	59
Chapter 8	Looping, or the Art of Repeating Oneself	61
	FOR Loops	61
	WHILE Loops	62
	Revisiting the Twelve Times (Multiplication) Table	63
	Looping the Loop	64
Chapter 9	Decisions, Decisions	67
	Chaining IF Statements	69
	Combining Tests Using Boolean Expressions	71
Chapter 10	Conversing with the User	73
	Obtaining Data from a User	73
	Command-Line Values	74
Chapter 11	Modular Programming	77
	What's a Module?	77
	Using Functions	78
	Using Modules	79
	Defining New Functions	81
	Creating Our Own Modules	88
Chapter 12	Handling Files and Text	91
	Input and Output Files	92
	Handling Large Files	92
	Modifying an Existing File	95
	Appending to Files	96
	Counting Words	96
Chapter 13	A Touch of Style	99
	More Comments	99
	Documentation Strings	102
	Variable Names	103
Chapter 14	Handling Errors	105
	The Traditional Way of Error Handling	106
	The Exceptional Way of Error Handling	106
	Generating Errors	108
	Nesting Error Handlers	109
	Log Files	110
Section 3	Advanced Topics
Chapter 15	Recursion	115
	What Is Recursion?	115
	Recursing over Lists	117
Chapter 16	Namespaces	121
	A Little History Lesson	121
	Python's Approach	122
Chapter 17	Object-Oriented Programming	127
	What Is Object-Oriented Programming?	127
	Data and Function--Together	128
	Defining Classes	129
	Using Classes	130
	Same Thing, Different Thing	130
	Inheritance	132
Chapter 18	Event-Driven Programming	137
	Simulating an Event Loop	138
	A GUI Program	139
Chapter 19	Regular Expressions	143
	Definition	143
	Sequences	144
	Repetition	146
	Conditionals	148
	Using Regular Expressions in Python	149
Chapter 20	Debugging	153
	Stop, Look, and Think	153
	Print	154
	The Python Debugger	156
	Debugging in IDLE	162
	Some Additional Thoughts on Debugging	164
Chapter 21	Designing a Solution	167
	Understand the Problem	168
	Consider the Options	169
	Static versus Dynamic Design	169
	Working within Your Environment	171
	Testing	172
	Configuration Management	172
Section 4	Case Studies
Chapter 22	Grammar Counter	177
	Counting Lines, Words, and Characters	178
	Counting Sentences	179
	Turning the Pseudocode into a Module	181
	The Final Grammar Module	187
	Classes and Objects	188
	Adding a GUI	193
	Designing a GUI	195
Chapter 23	Guessing Games	203
	The Game of Hangman	204
	Prototyping a Solution	205
	An Object Framework	207
	The Abstract Framework	208
	Testing the Framework--A Simple Word Game	210
	Text-Based Hangman	212
	GUI Hangman	215
	Other Ideas	222
	Epilogue	225
	Appendices
Appendix A	Installing and Testing Python	229
	Running the Installer	230
	Testing the Installation	230
	Running IDLE	231
	A Final Touch	232
Appendix B	Some Interesting Programming Languages	233
	Python	234
	BASIC	235
	C/C++	236
	Java	238
	Object Pascal (Delphi)	239
	Perl	241
	Smalltalk	243
	Interesting Alternatives	244
Appendix C	Resources	247
	Books to Read	247
	Web Sites to Visit	252
	Glossary	253
	Index	263
	What's on the CD?