What I found helped me the most was find some real world things that you'd like to accomplish and just start digging in. You'll learn the things you need along the way. I don't usually find tutorials very helpful as they just tell me to type some exact thing and surprise surprise I get the response from the tutorial, that doesn't really teach me much.
There are probably other resources, but I've honestly found this to be an effective way to introduce people to Python. Go through it, practice it, then read the rest of the documentation as you need it.
If you have a specific application in mind, people may be able to offer additional input. But for just learning the language, this is effective.
I'm working my way through LPTHW, and from what I can tell (I'm at exercise 35 now) most of these criticisms are now out of date with what he's currently teaching.
From what I understand, LPTHW was essentially a book/course that the author had written to help a friend with zero programming knowledge learn how to write code, so with that in mind I can let some of the criticisms go, namely the weird order in which things are taught compared to other beginner language books and the condescending tone. I can also let some of the naming conventions go, because the book is meant to be followed in a linear fashion.
Given that many of these criticisms are out of date, and given that Zed Shaw is teaching Python 3 despite having some strong opinions, it's entirely possible that Zed the person can continue to hold these opinions, but can swallow his pride enough to fix issues other experienced developers have found with the book, and has chosen to teach Python 3 without pushing an agenda.
As for my opinions on the book, as an experienced .NET developer trying to enter the Python/Linux world I find it a bit too basic at times. What I've really enjoyed has been the rote learning aspect. Paired with the videos for each chapter, forcing myself to write the code, follow the study drills, and then watch the video after each chapter to compare approaches has resulted in me retaining much of what has been taught. As a book it feels lacking, but as a packaged course it feels good.
Once I finish his course, I'll probably follow up with another Python book to fill any holes before I move onto any particular web framework stuff.
Obviously youtube is your best friend here, but once you are ready to give things a try I'd hop straight onto Kaggle and play around with some code and look at what code other people have created for the same challenge
CPython source. Once you understand the implementation the syntax will come naturally. I’ve been reading CPython for a few years now and it’s very readable C code.
* Already know a language - https://learnxinyminutes.com/docs/python3/ and https://docs.python.org/3/tutorial/
* In depth - Fluent Python (http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920032519.do)
* Pythonic way - https://gist.github.com/JeffPaine/6213790 and http://www.effectivepython.com/
* Practice - https://www.codewars.com/
For more links, see a list I made(https://github.com/learnbyexample/scripting_course/blob/mast...)