Recommended Books

I get asked about good books for beginners. Here's an example:

"What Python books do you recommend for novices so they can learn from beginner to advanced?"

For me, this is nearly impossible to answer.

"Beginner" is often undefined. I have to turn this around and ask what you already …

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The "The reader won't know what that means" Comment

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I have to admit, it's very difficult to respond to this comment. I have to fight down the urge to say things like "The Reader is not an idiot," or "At some point, we have to assume they've seen a computer before."

AFAIK there's little or no useful data data …

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The Awkwardness of Fundamental Definitions

Date Tags writing

A pragmatic description of a language (like Python) from axiomatic -- or really axiom-like -- foundations is exasperatingly hard. I don't think I have any answers, but I sure do have a lot of challenges. I think there's a path that involves a lot of "don't look down -- just edge along the …

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