If you've picked up this book, then you are taking your first step toward building amazing projects using code. Some of you might want to make games, while others might want to learn more about how all of your favorite websites and apps actually work. If you follow the exercises in this book, you'll be able to do the following:
- Create fun games to play with your family and friends
- Learn about the inner workings of your apps
- Learn how to take charge of your computer
In this book, you will learn Python code. Specifically, you will learn how to design a computer program from the very beginning. It doesn't matter if you have never coded before because each exercise in this book is designed to get you ready to code. If you have coded before, you will find that this book has some really helpful exercises that can help make your code even better. Additionally, there are some more advanced projects toward the end of the book, which you should definitely take a look at!
If you take a look at the Web and search for Python jobs, you will find that many of the highest paying jobs are in Python. Why?
Python is a very flexible and powerful language in the following ways:
- It can be used in order to go through millions of lines of data
- Python can search for information on a website without having to go to the website itself
- It is even used to host and design websites
So, what will it take to learn Python? If you have never programmed, you will probably want to follow each lesson in order so that you can build the skills you need to make a game or another kind of computer program. The final project in this book will be a game. If you have some other programming experience, such as making modifications to your computer games, using programs such as Scratch or Logo or trying some of the free programming classes on the Internet, then you might decide to skim this book first to see what you already know. It is still recommended that you follow the contents of this book in the order they are presented, as each project builds on the projects that were explained in the previous chapter.
Python teaches all of the basics of an object-oriented programming language, and it is still very powerful. In fact, many Internet companies, most notably Mozilla Firefox and Google, use Python in part or all of their products! Python has also been used to build Django, a free framework to make websites.
It has also been used to build many small video games by people learning about it as well as more advanced programmers. Finally, Python can be used to quickly read and analyze millions of lines of data very quickly! By learning Python, you will be prepared to build a variety of interesting projects, and you will gain the skills necessary to learn other programming languages if you choose to do so.