Chapter 1: Getting Started: The Game over Program

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Overview

Programming basically is getting your computer to do stuff. This is not the most technical definition, but it's a pretty accurate one. By learning Python, you'll be able to create a program, whether it's a simple game, a small utility, or a business product with a full-featured graphical user interface (GUI). It'll be all yours, something you made, and it will do just what you told it to. Programming is part science, part art, and one great adventure. This chapter starts you on your Python programming journey. In it, you'll learn

• What Python is and what's so great about it

• How to install Python on your computer

• How to print text to the screen

• What comments are and how to use them

• How to use Python's integrated development environment (IDLE) to write, edit, run, and save your programs