About this book
This book teaches the basics of computer programming. It’s meant for kids, but anyone who wants to learn how to program a computer can use it.
You don’t need to know anything about programming to use this book, but you should know the basics of using your computer. Maybe you use it for email, surfing the Web, listening to music, playing games, or writing reports for school. If you can do the basic things on your computer, like starting a program and opening and saving files, you should have no trouble using this book.
This book teaches programming using a computer language called Python. Python is free, and you can download it from several places, including this book’s web site. To learn programming using this book, all you need are
- this book (of course!).
- a computer, with Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux on it. The examples in this book are done in Windows. (There is some help for Mac and Linux users on the book’s web site: www.helloworldbook.com.)
- basic knowledge of how to use your computer (starting programs, saving files, and so on). If you have trouble with this, maybe you can get someone to help you.
- permission to install Python on your computer (from your parent, teacher, or whoever is responsible for your computer).
- the desire to learn and try things, even if they don’t always work the first time.
To learn programming with this book, you don’t need