Fast Lane to Python – A quick, sensible route to the joys of Python coding by Norm Matloff.
From the preface:
My approach here is different from that of most Python books, or even most Python Web tutorials. The usual approach is to painfully go over all details from the beginning, with little or no context. For example, the usual approach would be to first state all possible forms that a Python integer can take on, all possible forms a Python variable name can have, and for that matter how many different ways one can launch Python with.
I avoid this here. Again, the aim is to enable the reader to quickly acquire a Python foundation. He/she should then be able to delve directly into some special topic if and when the need arises. So, if you want to know, say, whether Python variable names can include underscores, you’ve come to the wrong place. If you want to quickly get into Python programming, this is hopefully the right place. (emphasis in the original)
You may know Norm Matloff as the author of Algorithms to Z-Scores:… or Programming on Parallel Machines, both open source textbooks.
What do you think about Norm’s approach to teaching Python? Noting that we don’t teach children language by sitting them down with a grammar but through corrected usage, and lots of it. At some point they learn or can look up the edge cases. Parallel’s to Norm’s approach?
I first saw this in a tweet by Christophe Lalanne.