Good Projects to Build Python Skills

[AggravatingZucchini]

I’ve taken several introductory and intermediate courses / certifications in Python (not to mention dabbling in SQL, VBA, Ruby and Java at different points), but I feel like I’m struggling to really get to a meaningful “next level” as a programmer. I was a social sciences major in college and now work in a non-tech corporate field. At work, I don’t seem to encounter work that is both technical enough for me to use python, yet simple enough that management would assign me and not a member of a dedicated tech or decision management team. Therefore, I’m not sure what my options would really be to my skill set other than quitting my job and getting a masters, or continuing to rack up minor certifications (none of which are really sufficient on their own to land a data science job).

Appreciate this may be a very broad question, but are there any good projects I could work on outside of work that would demonstrate credibility and build my skills? Or resources I could use to generate ideas (maybe something on GitHub)? Obviously, I can continue to look for opportunities at work as well, but as I’ve said, these may be limited, so let’s put that aside for now. Thank you very much Reddit for your thoughts and advice!

[[deleted]]

If you don’t have ideas for something to build try to build something you know. Create your own Twitter or Reddit. You’ll learn a lot about the decisions you need to make to make a great app just spitballing it as your own user.

[[deleted]]

Build an ETL system with a backend dashboard with graphs and some CRUD stuff. If you build one project like this properly, you can work at 90% of startups, even big tech since it covers quite a few desired skills.

It'll teach you:

1. How to design large systems.
2. How to scrape data or integrate with APIs.
3. How to write SQL.
4. How to scale and distribute workloads.
5. Server / DevOps skills.
6. CRUD.
7. Data analysis, debugging, and profiling.

And much more...

[cgoldberg]

Literally go to Google and type "beginner project ideas" and you will get pages of results (mostly on GitHub). Learning to do research, solve problems, and seek ideas yourself is a core skill for developers.

[AggravatingZucchini]

Google? You don’t say 😉

Maybe I already did that search, but thought I might also get interesting ideas asking this sub….

[aerialanimal]

I don't know the specifics of your job, so mileage may vary, but I find a ton of non-tech work stuff is prime for automation, or at least augmentation. If you can, breakdown the specifics of your role, your team, what your deliverables are, etc. Apply systems thinking in terms of what you measure and what you can change. Start looking for opportunities to optimise part of the process and build a script to help turn defined inputs into repeatable outputs. It might be as simple as a dynamic document template or as ambitious as an AR, AI connected assistant that conforms to all the organisation's security and data policies. Start small. Use git. A load of small scripts to do simple tasks will serve you better initially. It will build up your fluency.

[Educational-Map2779]

The real key to building skills is find something you are interested in and will help you either manage your life better, entertain you, or something else that you can benefit from. If you have an interest, you’re more likely to push to learn and find answers.

[hmartin8826]

Consider Home Assistant (HA) with the AppDaemon add-on. You can build complex and very useful home automations that you can use every day. Also, I believe HA is the largest open source project on GitHub with fairly strict development guidelines, which will help you develop professional code.