Getting the Skills

[andrew.co.za]

I'm currently a developer in VB.Net and i have a keen interest in contributing to the community. I've briefly looked into python (wikipedia, etc) and i see that version 3.0 is due to release end of this year. Since it won't be backwards compatible i think it would be best to dive right into v3 rather than becoming used to an older version and having to convert later.

Does anyone know of a site or somewhere i can learn python 3.0 (maybe even take a course). Or is it recommended that i learn the legacy and start playing around in the alpha. I really don't mind using an alpha version but learning something that might become redundant really gets to me. Furthermore is it even a good idea to get into python or would another language be a better option.

When/ are these meetings btw?

[aquavitae]

Python is a good language to get into!

I know you can download the ptyhon3 alpha, but I'd suggest looking at 2.5 first, just because its easier to get hold of and its stable. Most of the changes in python3 will be removing redundancies, no major language changes - i.e. the basic python philisophy will stay the same. Also, most of the changes to be made in 3 are noted in the python2.5 docs.

As for how to learn it... the best way it to actually write a program with it. Also the python docs have a fairly good introduction tutorial, that should be a good start considering you have some programming background. The syntax is really easy and intuitive so it doesn't take long to get into. Also, have a look at the programming forum - I think there are a number of stickies about learning python.

Hope this helps!