[Courses] [Python] Welcome

[Akkana]

I'm Akkana Peck, working as a developer here in Silicon Valley, Calif.,
USA.  I've programmed in various languages (currently using C++, C,
JS, and perl most often), but I'm dissatisfied with the scripting
languages I know (perl, sh, csh, js, a little php) and have been
meaning to learn python for some time.

I don't have any python experience, except for very minor patches
to get python apps like Plucker to run on Redhat's somewhat
nonstandard Python system.

I haven't decided yet whether I'll buy the book or not ... I'll see
how the class goes, and buy it later if I decide it would be helpful.
I've generally found O'Reilly's "Programming..." books to be excellent
and their "Learning..." books to be a bit skimpy on details for my taste,
so I'd probably buy "Programming Python" unless everyone says that the
other one is much better.

We've already had lots of quotes about why the language is called
Python, so I'll just say that although I've never had a python, I
did briefly keep a rosy boa as a pet when I was a teenager.  She
was a very friendly and even tempered snake, and I hope Python
turns out to be just as pleasant to deal with. :-)

	...Akkana