Beginning Programming

Basic computer programming can be intimidating to anyone who has ever attempted to write their first line of code. Idiot's Guides: Basic Programming takes the fear out of learning programming by teaching readers the basics of programming with Python, an open-source (free) environment which is considered one of the easiest languages to learn for beginners, Python has consistent syntax, a solid standardized library, and a simplicity that isn't always present in other languages. Readers will learn not only the "how" of programming but the "why" so that they not only know how to write code, but why that code works, and how it relates to other languages and forms of programming. Readers will learn how to program through simple projects that help them to learn how basic programming works, while encouraging them to be creative and enabling them to see the tangible results of their coding. Matt Telles is a senior software developer at Thompson Reuters and the author of eight books on software development subjects ranging from programming to testing. With over 25 years of experience as a developer, manager, and tester, his experiences has taken him through the mainframe world, past PCs and into the cloud and beyond. He's worked on everything from Linux and MS-DOS to Windows 8 and the Cloud.