Besides this book, you might occasionally want to reference the Python manual. The easiest way to do that is using the Internet. Just search for “Python” with whatever you are interested in, and you will quickly see links that lead straight into the Python manuals (the Python manuals are stored at http://docs.python.org¹). You might also run into links that lead you to code that solves a problem for you directly. While that is great by the time you have to use Python for practical problems, it does not help you to learn. So my advice is that you avoid such links while trying to learn programming.

When you install Python, there usually is a manual installed in a Doc folder under the Python folder. You can use it if, for some reason, you are not connected to the Internet.

If you are interested in another book besides this one, I recommend the classic Think Python: How to Think Like a Computer Scientist, by Allen B. Downey. It is freely available from http://greenteapress.com/wp/². A version for Python 3 was released in 2016. The main differences with my book as far as content is concerned, is that my book has more exercises, is aimed more at people who are completely new to programming, takes more time for topics that I know are hard for students who have no real aptitude for programming, and covers a few important topics that Downey’s book lacks, such as extensive file processing.

Besides this book and other books like it to learn Python from, there are several open video courses available. I do not believe that it is possible to learn programming mainly from watching a video. The only way to learn programming is by doing.

I have included a troubleshooting appendix (Appendix 29) to explain the most common problems that you may encounter during the writing and running of programs.