i'm sort of in the same boat - i'm heavily versed in perl but would like to learn python, if only that a lot of sci/research code is being written in it. Is the google code course comparable or better to the tutorial on python.org?
Keep in mind: I still consider myself a Python noob.
If by the "Google Code Course" you mean the course that is instructed by the guy with the Netscape shirt (Nick Parlante), yes, I would recommend it above the tutorials at python.org for a first round of Python knowledge gathering. Reason being: He brings up a bunch of problems and quirks of Python at the get-go, as well as a bunch of tricks and shortcuts. Overall, I think it's a very well-structured course.
Personally, I think that the tutorial and overall docs at python.org help only when you have most of the basics of Python hammered down. I found myself using them more once I started /getting/ the Pythonic way.
If you already know another programming language I think the book "Dive into Python" is the best way to get up to speed. Link is http://www.diveintopython.net/
Learn from http://diveintopython3.ep.io/ which is fresher. You may end up using Python2 due to library availability, but the differences aren't enormous.
If you can already code the google one is better only for the fact it has those exercises which by doing them gives you more of those 'a-ha, I get python' moments. It's more learning by doing rather than learning by reading.
I just skimmed the python.org tutorial for the first time and it reads like the tl:dr version of full reference docs.
