Books:

Required: Python Programming: An Introduction to Computer Science, by John Zelle.
Franklin, Beedle, & Associates, publishers, 2004. ISBN 1-887902-99-6.**
Online Python Resources: Python Documentation, http://www.python.org/doc/

A Byte of Python (an online wikibook), http://swaroopch.info/text/Byte_of_Python:Main_Page

How to think like a computer scientist: learning with Python, 2nd edition.
by Jeffrey Elkner et. al. http://openbookproject.net//thinkCSpy/

An Introduction to Python , by Guido van Rossum (the creator of Python).

Software:

Python We will be using the Python programming language, which is available for Linux, Windows, and Macintosh computers (among others). It is available on the lab computers at EMA 302 (the undergraduate CS lab).

We will be using version 2.7.1, which you can download for free online.
Please note that version 3 is newly available, and not compatible with older versions; we are sticking with the well tested 2.7, which is also consistent with the book.

IDE An Integrated Development Environment is a tool for browsing source code, running programs, and debugging logical errors. You may use any that you like.

The Python distribution automatically installs a basic IDE called IDLE, which I like reasonably well. Another one I've used which provides some better code formatting and debugging tools is called Wing IDE, which you may use if you like. A special version called Wing 101 is available for free from https://wingware.com/products.

Programming Links:

CS108 Python Debugging Guide
CS108 Python Style Guide
The ASCII Character Set
A tutorial on character code issues
A brief overview of the IEEE Standard 754 regarding Floating Point Numbers
UNIX manual pages
A great tutorial on Windows Explorer. Get to know your file system!

Created by: Aaron Stevens, azs@bu.edu
http://www.cs.bu.edu/courses/cs108/
Last update: 10 January 2010