A Quick Pip Guide: How to Install Python Modules
Mon 11 January 2021 Al Sweigart
This tutorial teaches you about Pip, a package manager that installs third-party packages for Python.
Installing the ComputerCraft Mod for Minecraft 1.16 (and later)
Thu 24 December 2020 Al Sweigart
Two Weird Tricks to Help Learn the Git Command Line
Fri 18 September 2020 Al Sweigart
Open two terminal windows and run
watch "git status" in one and watch "git log -oneline" in the other so you can get live feedback as you enter Git commands.
Free Coupon Codes for My Online Courses
Thu 26 March 2020 Al Sweigart
Information about how to sign up for my Python course on Udemy for free or at a discounted rate.
Reading Guide to Automate the Boring Stuff, Second Edition, for Readers of the First Edition
Tue 31 December 2019 Al Sweigart
The second edition of Automate the Boring Stuff with Python is now freely available. This blog post outlines the new content in the second edition with links to the content online so that readers of the first edition can immediately find the new content.
Type Hints for Busy Python Programmers
Sun 24 November 2019 Al Sweigart
A quick guide to using type hints in Python.
Book Review: Code This Game! by Meg Ray (Odd Dot 2019)
Tue 12 November 2019 Al Sweigart
5 Stars: An excellent project-based book for young readers who want to move beyond Scratch
Code This Game is an excellent book that teaches Python programming by guiding the reader through making a tower-defense game from scratch. This is a book that doesn't shy away from programming detail, but manages to remain fun and engaging. If you have a student or child who wants to move beyond MIT's Scratch programming tool and do "real" programming, this is a great book.
Live Online Python Class on Twitch on October 21, 2019
Sun 20 October 2019 Al Sweigart
I'll be doing a live online Python class for beginner- and intermediate-level programmers on Twitch on Monday evening, October 21, 2019.
What's New in the 2nd Edition of "Automate the Boring Stuff with Python"
Mon 07 October 2019 Al Sweigart
Here are all the new additions and updates in the second edition.
Python Error Messages: Gotta Catch Em All
Thu 15 August 2019 Al Sweigart
To make errors less intimidating, I've created a "Gotta Catch 'em All" worksheet that lists several common Python error messages. Instead of trying to avoid errors, beginners can try to hunt and collect them all.
Pythonic Ways to Use Dictionaries
Wed 05 June 2019 Al Sweigart
Python dictionaries are a useful part of the language. In addition to having the ability to store keys and values, you can also use dictionary methods to manipulate those values, and you can use dictionaries to write more concise code.
Hashable Objects Must Be Immutable
Fri 01 February 2019 Al Sweigart
A recent post to Reddit sparked some comments, so I wanted to clarify: In Python, hashable objects must be immutable and mutable objects cannot be hashable. (With one exception.)
Book Review: The Little Schemer
Sun 09 December 2018 Al Sweigart
Alternative Title: The Little Schemer Wears No Clothes
Perhaps a software engineer or MIT professor friend of yours recommended this book to you. “Oh, you want to learn how to code? You should read The Little Schemer,” they’ll say. Your friend means well, but is completely wrong to recommend this book.
A Curriculum for Python Packaging
Mon 22 October 2018 Al Sweigart
Python's packaging ecosystem contains multitudes. It can be intimidating for new Python developers to try to crack into, especially given the rapid evolution of Python packaging. Writing a *helloworld.py* file and running it on your computer is simple, but getting it to run on someone else's computer (and doing this the "right" way) involves a tangle of terms, tools, and techniques. What are wheel files? What is distutils? Do I use distutils or easy_install or pip?
To get to the bottom of this myself, I've compiled a curriculum of PyCon talks, online documentation, and my own personal notes to finally get a complete handle on Python packaging.
Writing Bots to Play Zombie Dice
Wed 17 October 2018 Al Sweigart
Programming games are a games genre where instead of playing the game directly, players write bot programs to play the game autonomously. I've created a Zombie Dice simulator, allowing programmers to practice their skills while having fun making game-playing AIs. Zombie Dice bots can be simple or incredibly complex, and are great for a class exercise or an individual programming challenge.
PyOhio 2018 Recursion Tutorial
Fri 24 August 2018 Al Sweigart
This page has materials for folks taking my two-hour tutorial, A Beginner's Guide to Tackling Recursion at PyOhio 2018 or following its video recording.
The Zen of Python, Explained
Fri 17 August 2018 Al Sweigart
The Zen of Python by Tim Peters are 20 guidelines for the design of the Python language. Your Python code doesn’t necessarily have to follow these guidelines, but they’re good to keep in mind. The Zen of Python is an Easter egg, or hidden joke, that appears if you run import this.
Python's Fake Increment and Decrement Operators
Mon 21 May 2018 Al Sweigart
In Python, you can increase the value of a variable by 1 or reduce it by 1 using the augmented assignment operators. The code spam += 1 and spam -= 1 increments and decrements the numeric values in spam by 1, respectively.
Other languages such as C++ and Java have the ++ and -- operators for incrementing and decrementing variables. (The name of C++ itself reflects this; the name is a tongue-in-cheek joke that indicates it's an enhanced form of the C language.) Code in C++ and Java could have ++spam or spam++. Python wisely doesn't include these operators; they are notoriously susceptible to subtle bugs.
Python Tuples are Immutable, Except When They're Mutable
Mon 05 February 2018 Al Sweigart
Before we can get a nuanced answer to "Are tuples mutable or immutable?", we need some background information.
How To Ask For Programming Help
Fri 02 February 2018 Al Sweigart
I often get emails say little more than "Why doesn't my program work?" Often I can't answer them; either I don't have enough information about your problem or you're asking me about something I don't know anything about.