Python Programming: An Introduction to Computer Science

I'm really only a few chapters in so far, but I felt the need to express my unanswered frustrations and how this book answered them.I've always wanted to learn computer programming since I was a kid, back in the days when computers were the scary things they had in school libraries that adults were scared of getting too close to. I even bought a book on C when I was young enough to only require one digit in my age, and I didn't even own a computer and probably had only used one a few dozen times. I have throughout my life bought, attempted to learn, and failed miserably at learning programming many times. Each time I get terribly stuck and confused. I curse the writers of these books who advertise "programming for the absolute beginner" who I seem so disconnected to. I figured it was me, that maybe I wasn't smart enough, or that for some reason I just could never learn how to do cool stuff with a computer. In my most recent spate I bought another book on computer programming - also on Python. While I did learn to do some stuff, there was still this weird disconnect.But this book is different and now I finally realize what I had been struggling with: the author *actually explains* what each programming concept does. This sounds silly - of course all programming books do that! But you'd be wrong. Apparently understanding what something like "for i in range(10):" does and what each part is for and called is in the realm of 'computer science.' It sounds stupid, but it took me a while in my first couple of attempts at learning programming in the early days, to realize (because no one actually said it), that a computer program is executed from top to bottom, left to right. A program is more like a player piano. So in the first couple of chapters I was delighted that the author actually says that.So I guess the difference between this book and all the others I've read is that even if the other books say it's for someone who has never programmed before, they make a lot of assumptions about what you know and what you should have figured out from the context. But this book actually explains each concept as it comes up. In fact, this book is more explanation than code. Which is good because when you're starting out you're full of funny concepts about how programming might work. You don't necessarily understand that when you write "x = 2 + y" and then later change the value of y, that won't actually change the value of x. And the reason you don't know that is because the author didn't bother explaining to you exactly how variables work in Python.So for learning Python, this is a great resource and exactly what I needed after two decades of on-and-off spates or trying to learn programming. As for learning Computer Science? I guess I don't know a lot about it, but I don't think this would be a great resource. This book doesn't look like it explains binary code to you, or how transistors work, haw NAND and OR circuits work, or any of those sorts of things. There is some of that - it briefly explains the difference between hardware and software, CPU, RAM, etc. But really it's fairly superficial coverage. So the book really should be called Python Programming: A Concept-Based Approach. If I took a class called "an introduction to programming" I would be extremely happy if they assigned this book, but if the class was called "an introduction to computer science" I'd feel as if the class was misrepresented.Also, I'd also say don't buy this book if you already have a good grounding in some other computer programming language. I think one of those many other books that I struggled with would be a much better fit for you. You won't be lost in poorly defined terminology or zip past what a thing does and focus mostly just on how Python does it. This book will spend way too much time explaining those things you've already figured out by now. If know C++ or Java or whatever, you probably already know the difference between a float and an integer and at the most just need a refresher.Anyway, I didn't see any other reviews mention these points and I really am glad I found this book. So hopefully you guys will understand better what this book is really all about, which the description does a poor job of doing, in my opinion.

If I could describe this book in one word it would be: Perfect.I am completely new to the world of computer science and programming (also a sophomore in high school), and i have to say this book has been perfect for starting out in the world of computer science. I have decide that for this review i would like to go over a few of the great features and prerequesites of this book.Lets start with some of the great features. This book has a very logical and easy to understand approach to computer science, it first talks a little bit about how programs work and the program building process, then it slowly begins to teach the reader how to program in python and about the elements of programs. I found this to be great as well because even though the first chapter does not teach very much about programming, it still lets the reader get their feet wet by getting to build some programs and experiment with them. The author also does a very great job of explaining difficult concepts.The best feature of this book that allows for true comprehension of the material being learned is at the end of every chapter the book provides multiple types of quizzes and interactive activities. This section of each chapter starts out with 10 true or false questions, then it moves on to 10 multiple choice questions, after that it goes into essay questions where it has the reader design and change programs for the sake of experimentation, and allows the reader to make predictions and see if they are correct. I found this part essential to truly understanding the elements of programming, and also very challenging at times. The last part of this section is the programming exercises. And these i also found essential to true comprehension of the material in the chapter. It makes you take programs that you designed earlier in the chapter, and challenges you to change elements within the program to make it more efficient, or more user friendly, or even just to challenge the reader. These exercises i found very difficult as well at times but also very essential to my understanding of programming.Now for any prerequisites that people may be wondering about. I would first off strongly suggest that the reader have completed algebra 1 or 2 because a lot of the programs you will make involve a lot of algebra, and although you can just copy what the book says without understanding what your actually doing, It is best that the reader understands what is trying to be accomplished in these programs. The other prerequisite is that the reader have a love for puzzles and problem solving, because this book gives you many difficult to solve problems in those end-of-chapter quizzes.Other Than that, this is an absolutely phenomenal book for programmers with zero experience and I strongly suggest that anybody truly interested in the nature of computer programming, and problem solving, please pick up this book, because you wont be disappointed.