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Could someone explain the reason why the "learn x the hard way" method has been so popular around here? I keep seeing the name thrown around, but haven't had a chance to look into it yet.

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Because Zed Shaw's original book makes learning Python so easy for anyone without assuming any prior knowledge, plus he's hilarious.

He assumes you are a very bright person who happens to be utterly helpless about this domain.

Considering that's exactly where I was, it was perfect for me.

He shows you how to do everything...once.

The reason is Zed Shaw. He has a large following here on HN.

And it's a pretty decent way to learn some basic programming skills, irrelevant of the actual language.

I think it goes beyond simply being Zed's name. It is genuine good stuff. My son has been using LPTHW to learn programming from 0 with positive results so far.

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