Slither Into Python

5 min readFeb 18, 2021

An Introduction to Python for Beginners

👇 Just scroll down to the table of contents to start reading! 👇

This book is free to read online! PDF versions are available for $6.99 to help support me and the site from E-Junkie. Thank you, and I hope you enjoy the book!

This work is free to read under a Creative Commons License.

👋 Introduction

Slither into Python is an introduction to Python for complete beginners. No prior programming experience or computer science background is necessary. Unlike any other Python resources I have found (not that they’re not out there), they don’t explain important computer science concepts such as memory or “how computers work”. In this book I will cover the fundamentals of the Python language and also introduce these important concepts.

Put simply, coding or computer programming is about making computers do what you want, Computer Science is about how computers do it. Each go hand-in-hand, help you learn faster and improve your overall understanding of a language! This book aims to do exactly that through Python.

📣 Join the Discord!

A couple of folks from reddit who were using this book to learn Python have set up a discord. They reached out to me and I joined. The group is beginning to grow quite rapidly and they’re looking for new members. I encourage you to join if you’re looking to find people who are also learning. I’m also quite active in it, so if you have any questions you can easily reach me there but I’m sure you’ll find someone who has an answer to your question!

🐍 Thank you to all 65,271 of you!

Slither into Python has been read by 65,271 people as of October, 2020, just four months since the book was completed! Finally, I’ve had the chance to get around to writing the solutions and they are now available for free also! You can find them in chapter 23!

“This is great! I love the way you explain some of these concepts. It’s very clear and concise.”

“I’m reading 1.2, and I can already say I love how easy it is to understand so far. It’s a lot more comprehensive than other sites I’ve looked at, which is great for a beginner like me.”

“I’ve only just read through a couple of pages but this is hands down one of the cleanest introductions I’ve come accross so far. Massive shout-out to you for putting in online for free!”

🚗 The Ultimate Python Roadmap for 2020

To complement this book, I’ve also laid out a roadmap for you to follow to take you from beginner to advanced, in a field of computer science that interests you! Check it out here: The Ultimate Python Roadmap for 2020

📭 Contact me

I’m always open to improvements! Email me here: slitherintopython@gmail.com

📚 NEW BOOK — Slither into Data Structures and Algorithms!

I have been working on a new book for the past couple of months — Slither into Data Structures and Algorithms — The concise guide to the backbone of the digital world through Python. Use discount code “BETTER21” at the checkout for 50% off: Slither into Data Structures and Algorithms

Support me by purchasing a PDF copy of the book!

PDF copies of the book are available from E-Junkie for $6.99. Get yours below!

Chapter 1 — Introduction
1.1 — Who is this book for?
1.2 — Learning outcomes
1.3 — A bit about Python
1.4 — Our first program
Chapter 2 — Integers, Operators and Syntax
2.1 — Integers
2.2 — Operator precedence
2.3 — Syntax
2.4 — Exercises
Chapter 3 — Variables, Floats, Input and Printing
3.1 — Variable assignment
3.2 — Floating-point types
3.3 — Getting user input
3.4 — The print function
3.5 — Exercises
Chapter 4 — Control Flow
4.1 — Booleans
4.2 — The if statement
4.3 — if/else statements
4.4 — elif statement
4.5 — Nested conditional statements
4.6 — Exercises
Chapter 5 — Looping & Iterations
5.1 — while loops
5.2 — Looping patterns
5.3 — break and continue
5.4 — while loop examples
5.5 — Exercises
Chapter 6 — Strings
6.1 — String literals
6.2 — String methods
6.3 — String indexing
6.4 — Immutability
6.5 — String operations
6.6 — String slicing
6.7 — Printing & formatting
6.8 — Exercises
Chapter 7 — Linear Search
7.1 — What is linear search
7.2 — Linear-search using while
7.3 — Examples
7.4 — Exercises
Chapter 8 — Lists
8.1 — List literals
8.2 — List methods
8.3 — List indexing
8.4 — Mutability
8.5 — List operations
8.6 — List slicing
8.7 — Exercises
Chapter 9 — Basic Sorting Algorithms
9.1 — What is sorting?
9.2 — Selection Sort
9.3 — Insertion Sort
9.4 — Comparison of Selction sort and Insertion sort
9.5 — Exercises
Chapter 10 — Input, File & Text processing
10.1 — What is file & text processing?
10.2 — The Sys module
10.3 — Reading from standard input
10.4 — Writing to standard output
10.5 — Standard error
10.6 — Opening & reading files
10.7 — Writing to files & closing files
10.8 — Putting it all together
10.9 — Exercises
Chapter 11 — For Loops & Dictionaries
11.1 — for loops
11.2 — Dictionaries
11.3 — Dictionary accessing
11.4 — Adding and removing entries
11.5 — Dictionary operators & methods
11.6 — Sorting dictionaries
11.7 — Exercises
Chapter 12 — Functions & Modules
12.1 — What are functions?
12.2 — Defining our own functions
12.3 — Arguments & parameters
12.4 — Variable scope
12.5 — Default mutable argument trap
12.6 — What are modules?
12.7 — Creating our own modules
12.8 — Exercises
Chapter 13 — Binary Search
13.1 — Improving our number guessing game
13.2 — Binary Search
13.3 — Implementing Binary Search
13.4 — Exercises
Chapter 14 — Error Handling
14.1 — Raising exceptions
14.2 — Assertions
14.3 — try & except
14.4 — finally
14.5 — Exercises
Chapter 15 — More On Data Types
15.1 — Tuples
15.2 — Sets
15.3 — Lists & List Comprehensions
15.4 — Exercises
Chapter 16 — Recursion & Quicksort
16.1 — What is recursion?
16.2 — Examples of recursion
16.3 — Quicksort part 1
16.4 — Quicksort part 2
Chapter 17 — Object Oriented Programming (OOP)
17.1 — Classes & Objects
17.2 — Defining a new type
17.3 — The self variable
17.4 — Exercises
Chapter 18 — OOP: Special Methods and Operator Overloading
18.1 — The __init__() method
18.2 — The __str__() method
18.3 — The __len__() method
18.4 — Operator Overloading
18.5 — Exercises
Chapter 19 — OOP: Method Types & Access Modifiers
19.1 — What are instance methods?
19.2 — What are class methods?
19.3 — What are static methods?
19.4 — Public, Private & Protected attributes
19.5 — Exercises
Chapter 20 — OOP: Inheritance
20.1 — What is inheritance?
20.2 — Parent & child classes
20.3 — Multiple inheritance
20.4 — Exercises
Chapter 21 — Basic data structures
21.1 — Stacks
21.2 — Queues
21.3 — Examples
21.4 — Exercises
Chapter 22 — More Advanced Data Structures
22.1 — Linked Lists
22.2 — Trees (Binary Search Trees)
22.3 — Exercises
Solutions
Solutions to all questions
Solutions to projects not included