As we said at the beginning, Python is a big language. Our goal with this book is get you started in the right direction, to give you the foundation you need to not just program Python effectively but direct your own growth with the language. Hopefully, we've done our job!

We encourage you to use what you've learned here whenever you can. Practicing these skills really is the only way to master them, and we're sure that your appreciation for Python will deepen as you put the language to use. Perhaps you can use Python immediately in your job or school work, but if not there are countless open-source projects that would love to have your help. Or you could start your own project! There are so many ways to get experience with Python that the real problem may be finding the one that suits you best.

There is, of course, a great deal to Python that is not covered in this book. Our forthcoming books The Python Journeyman and The Python Master will look...