Thank you Zed Shaw.. This is an excellent resource that has helped me to become what I am today.. I started learning Python using this book and he really takes time to ensure the readers understand what they are doing.<p>It may be too silly for you programmers, but almost every beginner programmers as me would have definitely cam across this resource. This has helped innumberable and I'm sure it will.. Thanks once again.
It is interesting that one of the way Zed advocates for learning is to type, (instead of copy and paste), the code into the computer. That reminds me when I was cutting my teeth at my introduction to computers. I would get computer magazines like Compute! and type in the 100s of lines of code that comes with it. Especially the arcade games listing. I think this method also improve my debugging skills as I was tracking down the error (usually I did not type in the code properly or there was a misprint in the magazine).
I didn't start with Zed's stuff, but I checked it out when I was interested in Python.<p>For someone like me, it would have been really fun when I was less experienced. I would have liked the repetitive challenges while I was doing them, because I would have challenged my self to go through them as fast as a I could and gamify it (though it wouldn't have been called gamification back then). It would have got me to memorize things.<p>His books are different, I appreciate another take on them. I would read and follow along with his books if they fit my needs now. I've recommended him a couple times to people I thought would benefit from that style.<p>As to his personality, I think most people are jerks sometimes, and not jerks at other times. We all have our issues. :)<p>Generally, I feel that all the conversations about it much more harmful to the profession than the original instances being discussed.
If you know anything about programming, skip this book. If you don't know anything about programming, also skip this book. It gives you drills without explaining anything. My SO started learning with this book and I could see the book only caused confusion. She completely misunderstood how functions and function invocation work. And his way of teaching boolean logic is to memorize truth tables, wtf?
Python 2.5.1<p>Python 2.6.5<p>no use of context managers when working with files<p>no use of format when working with text formatting and output<p>"Avoid any project that mentions "Python 3""<p>"Every if-statement must have an else"<p>no list|dict|generator|set comprehensions.<p>no idiomatic hints<p>no gotchas.<p>Definitely a hard way.<p>Having learnt wrong leads to hard learning to do right.
Having actually used this as a self learning tool, my feelings were mixed. On one hand, I think it's organized and clear. On the other, I found it's drill approach to be ineffective for me.<p>I think reps are really good for something that uses muscle memory, like shooting 3s or dicing an onion. However, I found for learning programming, I got a lot more mileage out of teaching methods that have set up a solvable problem, point you in the right direction, but leave it to me to create a solution.
Scott Hanselman's great podcast interview with Zed Shaw:<p><a href="http://hanselminutes.com/407/learning-code-the-hard-way-with-zed-shaw" rel="nofollow">http://hanselminutes.com/407/learning-code-the-hard-way-with...</a>
I went through this whole class when it was linked here a couple of months back and really enjoyed it. I'm a self-taught programmer that needed updates on some modern concepts and a refresher on some other stuff, plus a bit of help with Python syntax. If you're like me (or a beginner) it's great. Thanks Zed.
Ummm, I don't understand all the dislike. For someone with my background, this was absolutely perfect. It's one of the very first things I read when I decided I wanted to learn Python. Fast forward several years, and now writing Python code is what I do for a living. I could not be happier.<p>I was a violinist, and Zed Shaw's way of teaching the basics completely resonated with me.<p>Thank you, Zed.
Hello Zed.
I didn't actually read whole LPTHW, but LCTHW helped me a lot.
I recommended LPTHW to some friends of mine, who were interesting in programming but had no experience at all.
Few years later and they are doing programming for living.
I personally think it's a good source for a newbie to start with.
Keep going with your job and thanks.
So I'm scrolling through this comment section, thinking, "Are we ever going to talk about the book or what?".<p>This thread is proof that programmer types need their share of celebrity gossip as much as anyone :)<p>"That Zed Shaw. He's abrasive, but is he too abrasive? Tune in to our panel discussion to find out!"
Wow, how come Zed Shaw manages to attract so much hate? I have found his series to be absolutely delightful. Anytime something about him appears on HN I can be sure there will be users with ad hominem attacks like this:<p>"> is this a joke?<p>No, just written by Zed Shaw. Honest mistake though."<p>How about you let go of the hate and embrace some love instead for the work this man has put forth?<p>LE: For advanced Python you can read his code from the Lamson project. I am sure there are many other coders out there who are just as talented as he is but he takes the time to comment his code and also has a style of clarity so to speak. Thank you Mr. Shaw for your work and thank you to all of the amazing, talented coders out there who gave me confidence and helped me to learn.
ah, Python, the language where you have to learn for in range() before even knowing functions or lists. Just memorize this, we'll explain it later...