Babblings of an aging geek in love with the Absurd, his family, and his own hubris.... oh, and Lisp.

# Programming with Python

## What’s Python?

Python is an easy-to-learn, but real-world programming language. It is used by engineers around the world, and is one computer language you’ll learn when you get to college.

## What’s Good about Python?

Python is a good way for programming larger applications, including solving your homework problems! For instance, if you raise 2 to the 100th power, $$2^{100}$$, on your calculator, you will get an approximation in exponential notation, like 1.267650600E30 (the calculator’s way of saying $$1.267650600\times 10^{30}$$).

But what happened to the rest of the numbers? If I put that problem in Python (typing: 2 ** 100), I get all the numbers:

1267650600228229401496703205376


## How to Learn Python?

Use a web browser (like Safari, Firefox or Chrome) and follow the lectures and exercises at CodeAcademy at: http://www.codecademy.com/skills/python

## How to Use Python at Home?

Once you’ve learned Python, go to: http://www.python.org and download Python 3.4.2 for your computer system.

Next go to: https://www.jetbrains.com/pycharm/ And download PyCharm, a way to write and run Python programs.