Python the TPRM Way
Type. Predict. Run. Modify. — A Hands-On Beginner’s Guide to Python 3
I wrote this book with the true beginner in mind. Previous programming experience is not required.
Practical Tech Made Simple
Type. Predict. Run. Modify.
This is the companion site for the TPRM Way books. Everything here is free, and nothing here asks you to sign up. If you own one of the books, start with its setup notes: this site keeps the current version of them.
Python — Python the TPRM Way HTML, CSS & JS — HTML, CSS & JavaScript the TPRM Way PHP — PHP the TPRM Way
The method, in one screen
TPRM is four steps you repeat until the code stops surprising you. I developed it while teaching my son to program, and every example in every book runs through the same cycle.
- Type
You type the program yourself. Copying it teaches your hands nothing.
- Predict
Before you run it, write down what you expect to see. A wrong prediction is the useful part.
- Run
Run the program and compare the output with your prediction, character for character.
- Modify
Change one thing and predict again. A program you can change is a program you understand.
The books
HTML, CSS & JavaScript the TPRM Way
A Hands-On Beginner’s Guide to Building Modern Websites
I teach the three core technologies of the modern web as one connected system. HTML gives a page its meaning and structure.
Free companion pages and downloads — HTML, CSS & JavaScript the TPRM Way
PHP the TPRM Way
A Hands-On Beginner’s Guide to Modern PHP 8+
PHP is a general-purpose programming language, and it plays a particularly strong role on the server side of the web. It also runs from the command line, which makes it a good language for learning core programming ideas before you add browser requests, forms, sessions, and databases.
What is free here
- Current setup notes The Before You Start section of each book, kept up to date as installers change.
- Chapter companions Every program from the chapter, ready to type, with the prediction that goes with it.
- Printable cheat sheets The syntax you look up most often, on one or two pages.
- Extra practice More prediction, tracing and debugging questions, with answers to check against.
- Starter files Clean files for the final projects. They are starting points, not solutions.
- Corrections What is wrong in the printed book, and what it should say.