* Welcome Albert Sweigart

[Henry Wong]

This week, we're delighted to have Albert Sweigart helping to answer questions about the new book Automate the Boring Stuff with Python: Practical Programming for Total Beginners.

The promotion starts Tuesday, June 16th, 2015 and will end on Friday, June 19th, 2015.

We'll be selecting four random posters in this forum to win a free copy of the book provided by the publisher, No Starch Press.

Please see the Book Promotion page to ensure your best chances at winning!

Posts in this welcome thread are not eligible for the drawing, and should be reserved for welcoming the author. Questions posted in this topic are subject to removal.

[Anand Hariharan]

Thanks to the Ranch for doing this promotion.

While I am starting to dabble a bit in Python, am not really aware of the literature out there. Reviewing the Amazon page, the book is the #1 best seller in its category! Will be nice to have Albert share his wisdom with us.

sincerely,
- Anand

[Al Sweigart]

Hello everyone, it's great to be here. JavaRanch was a site I used early on in my programming career, it's great to discuss programming now that I've moved up from being a greenhorn.

I've been blown away by how popular the book has been. A lot of people have jumped on the "everyone should learn to code" bandwagon, I wasn't sure if there was room for yet another book. But I think the book's premise has appeal: coding for office workers, admins, and hobbyists who don't want to necessarily become software engineers, but do want to learn enough code to automate tasks on their computer.

[Bear Bibeault]

Welcome back, Al.

I have awarded you 5 cows for joining us.

[Al Sweigart]

Oh, also, I've released the book under a Creative Commons license. You can read the HTML version of the book at https://automatetheboringstuff.com

(All of my other books are also CC-license, and can be downloaded at http://inventwithpython.com )

You can get the book for about $23 off of Amazon or buy it directly from the publisher at No Starch Press to get the print AND ebooks (in mobi, epub, and pdf formats) for $30.

No Starch gets a bigger cut if you buy it directly from them. If you'd like to help me out, writing an Amazon review of the book is super-helpful: http://www.amazon.com/Automate-Boring-Stuff-Python-Programming/dp/1593275994

Or you can make a direct donation via PayPal or Bitcoin through http://inventwithpython.com