Book excerpt: Suitable for newcomers to computer science, A Concise Introduction to Programming in Python provides a succinct, yet complete, first course in computer science using the Python programming language. The book features: Short, modular chapters with brief and precise explanations, intended for one class period Early introduction of basic procedural constructs such as functions, selection, and repetition, allowing them to be used throughout the course Objects are introduced in the middle of the course, and class design comes toward the end Examples, exercises, and projects from a wide range of application domains, including biology, physics, images, sound, mathematics, games, and textual analysis No external libraries are required, simplifying the book’s use in common lab spaces Each chapter introduces a main idea through a concrete example and a series of exercises. Designed to teach programming in a concise, yet comprehensive way, this book provides a timely introduction for students and anyone interested in learning Python.