beginner python on mac osx 10.8

Question

I'm learning programming and have been working with Ruby and ROR, but feel I like Python's language better for learning programming. Although I see the beauty of Ruby and Rails, I feel I need a language more easy to learn programming concepts, thus Python. However, I can't seem to find a community online or offline that work on Apple osx; mostly seems to be PC people for Python. What I like about Ruby is that there is a lot of books, communities, etc, and they tend to have a good amount of Mac resources. Would someone be able to point me to an google groups, forums, etc for beginner Python programming that may have tutorials, or help for people running on Mountain Lion? I'm feeling a little frustrated and caught between the Ruby Vs. Python paradigm, and just want some mac specific resources working with latest Python and eventually Django.

Thanks for any help you may be able to offer!

Answer 1

Mac OS X 10.8 comes bundled with Python 2.7.2 found at /usr/bin/python. Generally in the Python world your operating system is abstracted away, so there aren't that many OS-specific communities. Apple fully embraces Python, however, and you can even write fully native applications using Python.

My suggestions to get you started would be to:

• Install homebrew - This is an open source package installer for Mac OS X, inspired by Debian's apt-get or RedHat's yum. This will allow you to easily install many of the system-level dependencies like database servers, NoSQL servers, system libraries, and so on. You will inevitably be required to install this stuff as time goes by, so it's best to have the right tool for the job!

• Install pip - The Python package installer. You won't regret it. This will allow you to easily manage external Python packages.

• Check out the official Python tutorial. It's quite good, but also assumes you have at least basic understanding of programming.

• Check out Learn Python the Hard Way, a free e-Book by Zed Shaw, which assumes no prior programming experience and is very, very easy to follow.

These should keep you busy for a while!!