Hello SteemIt!

Let's start programming!

Programming is a very interesting skill to learn and one that may be easier than you ever thought. I learned to program years ago and since then, most things I think about are on the level of "Hey, I could make a simple program to make this entire process much easier!" Programming can take you places you could only dream of, from creating your own virtual universe from which you can do anything, to creating a robot that walks around your house talking to you! The only thing holding you back from these endless dreams is a door of knowledge, and I'm willing to open that door for you.

I learned to program years ago from my favorite teacher. It was his first year teaching at my school and naturally he wanted to have a fun class that set him apart from the other teachers. His class was programming. I went into that class with the intent of messing around the whole time, but I came out with a brand new skill and a new look at computers. Since then I have programmed countless games and physics simulations, but now I have reached the point where I want to turn around and help teach the newbies to experience the same joy I received from programming.

What will we learn?

We will start at the most basic level of programming with the language Python. From there we will get a grasp on variables, functions, then modules. One of the modules will be Tkinter, a visual library we will use to make our own game of Pong!

What will you need to follow along?

A computer with Windows (I've heard that everything is very similar for Linux and Mac users, but as I do not have access to either I have no way of verifying this)
Python - I recommend that you get/use python 2.7.11 or higher, the example code will be in 3.5
Some basic math knowledge

Why Python?

Python is one of the first programming languages that I learned and in my opinion it is the easiest. Most people want to start with more popular languages like Java or C++, but those languages require a very tedious amount of punctuation and grammar like the well known ";" at the end of each line of code. Now, all coding languages need those marks for the computer to know what to do; the difference is Python uses spaces to show this information. Using spaces instead of punctuation marks provides readability while specifying what the code does to the computer. Most Python interpreters you can get and the one that comes with the Python download even puts most of these spaces in for you as you code!

An example comparing different languages:

These programs print a single character (x) to the console.

Python:

def func():
    print("x")

Java:

public class PrintX{
    public static void main(String[] args){
        System.out.println("x");
    }
}

C++:

#include <iostream>

int main() {
    std::cout << "x";
}

Now, I would like to clarify. Java and C++ sure have their own uses and talents, and depending on who you talk to, they could swear up and down that a different language is the "best," but those people are most likely talking about how that language is the best for the use that they are giving it. For the use of learning how to code, Python is, in my opinion, the "best."

Subscribe to start this Python tutorial series!

Learning Python Programming - Part 0 - Introductions!