Page 25 - Python Basics: A Practical Introduction to Python 3

1.3. How to Use This Book

1.3 How to Use This Book

The first half of this book is a quick but thorough overview of all the
Python fundamentals. You don’t need any prior experience with pro-
gramming to get started. The second half is focused on finding practi-
cal solutions to interesting, real-world coding problems.

If you’re a beginner, then we recommend that you go through the first
half of this book from beginning to end. The second half covers topics
that don’t overlap as much, so you can jump around more easily, but
the chapters do increase in difficulty as you go along.

If you’re a more experienced programmer, then you may find yourself
heading toward the second part of the book right away. But don’t ne-
glect getting a strong foundation in the basics first, and be sure to fill
in any knowledge gaps along the way.

Most sections within a chapter are followed by review exercises to
help you make sure that you’ve mastered all the topics covered. There
are also a number of code challenges, which are more involved and
usually require you to tie together several different concepts from pre-
vious chapters.

The practice files that accompany this book also include full solutions
to the challenges as well as some of the trickier exercises. But to get
the most out of the material, you should try your best to solve the chal-
lenge problems on your own before looking at the example solutions.

If you’re completely new to programming, then you may want to sup-
plement the first few chapters with additional practice. We recom-
mend working through the entry-level tutorials available for free at
realpython.com to make sure you’re on solid footing.

If you have any questions or feedback about the book, you’re always
welcome to contact us directly.

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