Python for Informatics: Exploring Information

This book is designed to introduce students to programming and computational thinking through the lens of exploring data. You can think of Python as your tool to solve problems that are far beyond the capability of a spreadsheet. It is an easy-to-use and easy-to learn programming language that is freely available on Windows, Macintosh, and Linux computers. There are free downloadable copies of this book in various electronic formats and a self-paced free online course where you can explore the course materials. All the supporting materials for the book are available under open and remixable licenses at the www.py4inf.com web site. This book is designed to teach people to program even if they have no prior experience. This book covers Python 2. An updated version of this book that covers Python 3 is available and is titled, "Python for Everybody: Exploring Data in Python 3".

Charles Severance is a Clinical Associate Professor in the School of Information at the University of Michigan where he teaches Informatics courses; he has also taught Computer Science at Michigan State University. Previously he was the Executive Director of the Sakai Foundation and the Chief Architect of the Sakai Project (www.sakaiproject.org). His home page is http: //www.dr-chuck.com.