Today, anyone in a scientific or technical discipline needs programming skills. Python is an ideal first programming language, and Introduction to Programming in Python is the best guide to learning it.

Princeton University’s Robert Sedgewick, Kevin Wayne, and Robert Dondero have crafted an accessible, interdisciplinary introduction to programming in Python that emphasizes important and engaging applications, not toy problems. The authors supply the tools needed for students to learn that programming is a natural, satisfying, and creative experience.

This example-driven guide focuses on Python’s most useful features and brings programming to life for every student in the sciences, engineering, and computer science.

Coverage includes

• Basic elements of programming: variables, assignment statements, built-in data types, conditionals, loops, arrays, and I/O, including graphics and sound
• Functions, modules, and libraries: organizing programs into components that can be independently debugged, maintained, and reused
• Object-oriented programming and data abstraction: objects, modularity, encapsulation, and more
• Algorithms and data structures: sort/search algorithms, stacks, queues, and symbol tables
• Examples from applied math, physics, chemistry, biology, and computer science—all compatible with Python 2 and 3

Drawing on their extensive classroom experience, the authors provide Q&As, exercises, and opportunities for creative practice throughout. An extensive amount of supplementary information is available at introcs.cs.princeton.edu/python. With source code, I/O libraries, solutions to selected exercises, and much more, this companion website empowers people to use their own computers to teach and learn the material.

Robert Sedgewick has been a Professor of Computer Science at Princeton University since 1985, where he was the founding Chairman of the Department of Computer Science and is now the William O. Baker Professor of Computer Science. He has held visiting research positions at Xerox PARC, Institute for Defense Analyses, and INRIA, and is a member of the board of directors of Adobe Systems. Professor Sedgewick’s research interests include analytic combinatorics, design and analysis of data structures and algorithms, and program visualization. He has written sixteen books, including Introduction to Programming in Java: An Interdisciplinary Approach (with Kevin Wayne), Analytic Combinatorics (with Philippe Flajolet), An Introduction to the Analysis of Algorithms (with Philippe Flajolet), and Algorithms, Fourth Edition (with Kevin Wayne).

Kevin Wayne is the Phillip Y. Goldman Senior Lecturer in Computer Science at Princeton University, where he has been teaching since 1998. He was won several teaching awards at Princeton, including the Distinguished Teacher Award, the Phi Beta Kappa Teaching Award (joint with Robert Sedgewick), and an Excellence in Teaching Award. He received a Ph.D. in operations research and industrial engineering from Cornell University. His research interests include the design, analysis, and implementation of algorithms, especially for graphs and discrete optimization. He is the coauthor (with Robert Sedgewick) of Introduction to Programming in Java: An Interdisciplinary Approach and Algorithms, Fourth Edition.

Robert Dondero is a Lecturer in Computer Science at Princeton University. He has been teaching at Princeton since 2001. For that work his students have selected him to receive eight Excellence in Engineering Education Awards, and a Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Teaching. He earned a Ph.D. in information science and technology from Drexel University.  His research interests include software engineering and software engineering education.