View source for Learning Python

[[wikipedia:Python Programming Language|Python]] is an [[wikipedia:Open source|open source]], [[wikipedia:Interpreted language|interpreted]], very [[wikipedia:High-level language|high level]], [[wikipedia:Dynamic programming language|dynamic]], [[wikipedia:Object-oriented_programming|object-oriented]] programming language (''whew!'').  A few other languages of this type are [[wikipedia:Perl|Perl]], [[wikipedia:Php|PHP]], and [[wikipedia:Ruby programming language|Ruby]].  Among these languages, Python is particularly good at integrating with lower-level languages such as [[wikipedia:C programming language|C]]/[[wikipedia:C Plus Plus|C++]] and [[wikipedia:Java programming language|Java]] (Python can even [http://www.jython.org/ run on top of] a [[wikipedia:Java virtual machine|Java Virtual Machine]], if you want).

Taking advantage of this ability to integrate with other languages, the Battlefield 2 game includes a core engine written in [[wikipedia:C Plus Plus|C++]] that is inaccessible to developers (other than EA and DICE), and an embedded Python interpreter; non-EA/DICE developers are able to modify many aspects of how BF2 behaves, as well as add new behaviors, by modifying existing Python programs that are part of BF2, or by writing entirely new ones.


Some good resources for information about the Python language itself:
* [http://python.org python.org]: The main Python website, and includes lots of information and links to other useful sites, including:
** [http://wiki.python.org/moin/BeginnersGuide Beginner's Guide to Python]
** [http://python.org/doc/2.3.4/tut/tut.html Python Tutorial]
* [http://www.diveintopython.org Dive Into Python]: Full text of a good intro to Python for people who are already fluent in another programming language.
* [http://www.uselesspython.com Useless Python]
* [http://code.google.com/edu/languages/google-python-class/ Google's Python Class]


Python cookbooks, idioms, and design patterns
* [http://aspn.activestate.com/ASPN/Python/Cookbook/ ActiveState Python Cookbook]
* [http://jaynes.colorado.edu/PythonIdioms.html Python Idioms and Efficiency]
* [http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?PythonIdioms Python Idioms]
* [http://www.thinkware.se/cgi-bin/thinki.cgi/PythonPatterns Python Design Patterns]


Some good printed books on Python:
* [http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/lpython2/ Learning Python]
* [http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/pythonian2/ Python in a Nutshell]
* [http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/pythoncook2/index.html Python Cookbook]
* [http://diveintopython.org/ Dive Into Python]


Whether you are new to Python or are an experienced Pythonista trying to debug a program, you'll find that it's handy to have a regular Python interpreter (as opposed to the one embedded in BF2) installed on your PC to experiment with. The Python embedded in Battlefield 2 is an old version, 2.3.4; if you install a current version to experiment with be aware that there may be some differences between how it behaves and how BF2 Python behaves.  The best places to download Python from are:
* http://python.org/download (the official repository for Python)
* http://activestate.com/Products/ActivePython (a nicely packaged version that includes lots of commonly-used add-ons)


There are quite a few good IDEs ([[wikipedia:Integrated development environment|Integrated Development Environments]]) for Python.  IDEs are (highly) glorified text editors that offer lots of features that are especially useful to programmers, such as integrated debuggers, class browsers, language documentation, automatic color-coding and line completion, etc. Some of the more noteworthy ones designed for use with Python:
* [http://www.python.org/idle/ IDLE]: Included with the standard Python distribution; pretty basic, but fine if you're just starting out.
* [http://www.stani.be/python/spe/blog/ SPE]: A full-featured open source Python IDE.
* [http://boa-constructor.sourceforge.net/ Boa Constructor]: Another full-featured open source IDE.
* [http://activestate.com/Products/Komodo/ Komodo]: A very good commercial IDE (low-cost non-commercial version available).
* [http://www.thekompany.com/products/blackadder/ BlackAdder]: Another commercial IDE (free non-commercial version available).
* [http://wingware.com/products Wing IDE]: Yet another commercial IDE (low-cost "personal" version available).