Using Search Engines To Find Information

One of the most productive exercises in a session on the WorldWideWeb can be UsingSearchEnginesToFindInformation.

Q How can I ask SearchEngine to return web pages that have been modified in past 30 days? I tried

the Date option in Google advanced search and it does not seem to work.

A ??

Suppose your curiosity leads you to the point where you wish to discover some things about the Python Language. You don't know anything about it at all.

Let us use Google

http://www.google.com

to illustrate just how you might find out something more to be curious of:

Typing in the Google Search box ["Python Language"] produces the following link:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22Python+Language%22&btnG=Google+Search

This produces 17000 links, with the Python Language Web Site at the top. The remaining links are unduplicated links to pages which help you to refine your search.

Going to the first linked site:

http://www.python.org

Quite a bit of information here, but some of it does not make much sense to me, since I know little about it. But there is a link on this page called "What is Python". When I click on it, it takes me to

http://www.python.org/doc/Summary.html

Reading what is here fills me with further curiosity, so I hit the back arrow on the browse to go back the the Google list and scroll down where I find of all things a WikiPage which is about the PythonLanguage -

http://c2.com/cgi-bin/wiki?PythonLanguage

After reading this page and the several pages linked to it and the CategoryPython, I become curious about Learning To Program In Python. Where can I get Python and what tutorial are available?

Back to Google - ["Python Language" Download] produces the link:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22Python+Language%22+download&btnG=Google+Search

When I click on the Download Menu Icon at the top of the page, I learn that it is possible to download Python for Windows, DOS, Linux and Macintosh, and that the Documentation is also provided as a separate download.

Download Standard Python Software

Here are downloads of the latest releases, both source and Windows installers:

Python 2.2.1 (Apr 10, 2002)
Python 2.1.3 (April 8, 2002)
Python 2.0.1 (June 2001)
Python 1.6.1 (September 2000)
Python 1.5.2 (April 1999)
ActiveState ActivePython? (not open source)
PythonWare? ? Python Distribution

Information about specific ports, and developer info:

Windows (and DOS)
Macintosh
Linux
Other platforms
Source
Python Bugs Manager
Python Patch Manager
CVS tree access
Other Useful Items

I find also that 3rd party modules also exist at The Vaults of Parnassus.

I also find that documentation can be viewed online, or that I can download it in HTML, PostScript, PDF and other formats.

I download the Windows Version and the documentation. [This step may take some time!]

Now I wonder about tutorials? Are there any available? So back to Google I go, typing in the box ["Python Tutorial"], which produces the link:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22Python+Tutorial%22&btnG=Google+Search

I notice that near the top is a tutorial created for non-programmers, which I am, so I click on the link which takes me to:

http://honors.montana.edu/~jjc/easytut/easytut/

It looks good, an indexed page with the titles and linkages for the topics easy to read and understand, so I make my way through the tutorial.

The result: I didn't know anything about Python, now I have a copy of the language, the documentation and a tutorial which has taught me something about how to use the language.

Q: CanAnEducationalSystemEmerge? asks one page on this wiki?

A: I say in response, Yes! Fueled by a curiosity and a sense of adventure, I now have knowledge and education I didn't have yesterday, thanks to UsingSearchEnginesToFindInformation.

CategoryPython CategoryInformation CategoryDiscovery