# Suggestion for a python-like tutorial (concise but not a cookbook recipe)?

**URL:** <https://discourse.julialang.org/t/suggestion-for-a-python-like-tutorial-concise-but-not-a-cookbook-recipe/543>\
**Category:** General Usage\
**Tags:** documentation, tutorials\
**Created:** [November 24, 2016, 1:46pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/suggestion-for-a-python-like-tutorial-concise-but-not-a-cookbook-recipe/543 "2016-11-24T13:46:32Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 8\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![sylvaticus](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/sylvaticus/32/203883_2.png) [@sylvaticus](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/sylvaticus)\
**Post date:** [November 24, 2016, 1:46pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/suggestion-for-a-python-like-tutorial-concise-but-not-a-cookbook-recipe/543/1 "2016-11-24T13:46:33Z")

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Could you also suggest me a good theoretical/practical tutorial for Julia?  
I have started reading the Julia manual at [http://docs.julialang.org/en/release-0.5/](http://docs.julialang.org/en/release-0.5/) but it’s a 355 pages document, and going a bit too technical on same issues.  
Conversely, all the other cited documents in the “Resources” section of the same document point to cheatsheet, hands on or how-to that don’t return me a feeling of getting the knowledge of the language.  
What I mean is that I miss a lot the 66 pages (92 with overview of the standard library) Python tutorial of Guido van Rossum: concise but at the same time it teaches you the basis of the language explaining the various topics by examples.  
Anything similar that you could suggest me for Julia ?

Cheers and thank you,  
Antonello Lobianco

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**Author:** ![ChrisRackauckas](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/chrisrackauckas/32/77_2.png) [@ChrisRackauckas](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/ChrisRackauckas)\
**Post date:** [November 24, 2016, 1:48pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/suggestion-for-a-python-like-tutorial-concise-but-not-a-cookbook-recipe/543/2 "2016-11-24T13:48:48Z")

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I wrote this for programmers who are already quite familiar with scripting to dive right into the Julia syntax, the core differences between Julia and R/Python/MATLAB, and the usage of some common packages. Maybe this could be for you too?

[http://ucidatascienceinitiative.github.io/IntroToJulia/](http://ucidatascienceinitiative.github.io/IntroToJulia/)

For more resources, you can look here:

> **[Get started with Julia](https://julialang.org/learning/)**
>
> The official website for the Julia Language. Julia is a language that is fast, dynamic, easy to use, and open source. Click here to learn more.

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**Author:** ![akis](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/akis/32/156_2.png) [@akis](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/akis)\
**Post date:** [November 25, 2016, 4:50pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/suggestion-for-a-python-like-tutorial-concise-but-not-a-cookbook-recipe/543/3 "2016-11-25T16:50:35Z")

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My approach would be to read the Julia manual and just skip anything I find too technical (I estimate that could bring the number of pages down to 100). That’s because Julia is not a compiled Python with some different syntax, it is a different programming philosophy.

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**Author:** ![tbreloff](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/tbreloff/32/68_2.png) [@tbreloff](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/tbreloff)\
**Post date:** [November 26, 2016, 2:10am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/suggestion-for-a-python-like-tutorial-concise-but-not-a-cookbook-recipe/543/4 "2016-11-26T02:10:40Z")

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Check out Chris’s tutorial… it’s possibly the best I’ve seen. There are lots of other good options on the learning page too. Also… just start coding. Use the REPL help.

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**Author:** ![StefanKarpinski](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/stefankarpinski/32/24_2.png) [@StefanKarpinski](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/StefanKarpinski)\
**Post date:** [November 28, 2016, 8:05pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/suggestion-for-a-python-like-tutorial-concise-but-not-a-cookbook-recipe/543/5 "2016-11-28T20:05:13Z")

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@ChrisRackauckas: could you make a PR to add this to the materials linked from [julialang.org](http://julialang.org)?

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**Author:** ![ChrisRackauckas](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/chrisrackauckas/32/77_2.png) [@ChrisRackauckas](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/ChrisRackauckas)\
**Post date:** [November 28, 2016, 8:13pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/suggestion-for-a-python-like-tutorial-concise-but-not-a-cookbook-recipe/543/6 "2016-11-28T20:13:05Z")

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It’s there on the /learning page.

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**Author:** ![sylvaticus](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/sylvaticus/32/203883_2.png) [@sylvaticus](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/sylvaticus)\
**Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 2:02pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/suggestion-for-a-python-like-tutorial-concise-but-not-a-cookbook-recipe/543/7 "2016-12-02T14:02:51Z")

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Yes thanks, I am using as one of my main documentation sources.

I would however suggest to highlight more the “[A Basic Introduction to Julia](http://ucidatascienceinitiative.github.io/IntroToJulia/Html/BasicIntroduction)” page… that’s the chunk of the tutorial, but from the index page it’s not so easy to find it…

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**Author:** ![sylvaticus](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/sylvaticus/32/203883_2.png) [@sylvaticus](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/sylvaticus)\
**Post date:** [December 15, 2016, 9:54am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/suggestion-for-a-python-like-tutorial-concise-but-not-a-cookbook-recipe/543/8 "2016-12-15T09:54:08Z")

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At the end, I could not find something that did match my needs, so I did try to write my own concise tutorial while reading from several sources (tutorials/official documentation/books).

While the primary purpose of this tutorial is to help myself in the learning path of the language, it can also be useful to programmers (especially those coming from Python or C) that want start to code in Julia before reading the 533 pages of the (outstanding) official documentation.

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All suggestions and corrections are welcome !

Antonello