Rockridge Press Python Programming for Beginners: A Kid's Guide to Coding Fundamentals

Great book

This was a great book. I am genuinely impressed. I am just learning python and this really helped. I can now move on to more advanced books and have a mental reference. It doesn’t go that far into OOP, but that’s ok. Half of the battle of a programming language is learning syntax and she covers that. It’s a great book for kids and if I had this book as a kid I would be inspired to be a programmer!

"Python Programming for Beginners" teaches the process of coding, specifically how to code in Python. It's targeted at ages 10 through 14 and it's explained clearly enough that it should be understandable to that age range, but it's also useful for adults who want to learn the basic concepts of coding. The author did a good job of showing how to think through what needs to be in the code and how to identify the problem and fix bugs that happen in the code. She taught how to get set up with Python and explained what a certain type (variables, data types, loops, etc.) of code does, how to write it so that it will work, and then showed step-by-step how to use it by coding a simple animation or game. She then walked you through two more projects, each involving progressively more advanced coding, as well as suggested some changes that the reader might try by themselves. By the end, I felt like I finally understood the basics of coding and that I could use Python to create from scratch, not just copy and modify the game code in the book. Overall, I'd highly recommend this book.

Even though this is written for kids 10 and older, this book is actually great for adults too. My 10-year-old took the python class over the summer and it was very difficult for her to understand because the fundamentals were not explained. The teacher was using an adult book so it was hard to follow. This book is a big contrast because it breaks it down into fundamental parts that is easy to understand. The book's difficulty level for a 10-year-old is still really high so I had to guide my daughter along. I didn't mind because I was learning Python at the same time as her. I'm not really good at programming so I was glad to have this book to explain things in the easy to understand manner. My daughter thinks Python is fun but will probably not become a programmer as a career. However everyone should know the fundamentals of programming as a basic skill.

I've recently gotten back into electronics after many, many, many years and alot has changed since my "basic" programming days. I need all the help I can get. Even though it's for kids I read the reviews and others said it could work for adults. I really like how python programming is explained in such simple terms, maybe to simple for adults some times, but like I said some of us need all the help we can get. This might not get me to big projects, but it has helped to get me started and better understand. Gladly recommend this one!