Although Python is an easy to learn and powerful programming language as it is known in common parlance, there is nevertheless need of a good introduction and tutorial on the Python language.

Why yet another documentation and tutorial on Python? Aren't there enough websites with tutorials and books dealing with Python? Isn't there already everything said about this great programming language?

These were the questions which came to our mind, when we started this website in June 2010. Yes, there are lots of tutorials and introductions, but we wanted to present a different approach, with other - more interesting - examples, better explanatory diagrams and so on. We had a lot to build on, above all the longstanding experience of Bernd Klein as a computer scientist and Python lecturer. Actually, this online course is based on the material from the classroom training courses of Bodenseo and his book on Python.

Most Python developers have written at least one tool, script, library or framework that others would find useful. My goal in this article is to make the process of open-sourcing existing Python code as clear and painless as possible. And I don't simply mean, "create GitHub repo, git push, post on Reddit, and call it a day." By the end of this article, you'll be able to take an existing code base and transform it into an open source project that encourages both use and contribution.

While every project is different, there are some parts of the process of open-sourcing existing code that are common to all Python projects. In the vein of another popular series I've written, "Starting a Django Project The Right Way," I'll outline the steps I've found to be necessary when open-sourcing a Python project.

This tutorial does not attempt to be comprehensive and cover every single feature, or even every commonly used feature. Instead, it introduces many of Python’s most noteworthy features, and will give you a good idea of the language’s flavor and style. After reading it, you will be able to read and write Python modules and programs, and you will be ready to learn more about the various Python library modules described in The Python Standard Library.