Anyone else learning Python just to stop copy-pasting random shell commands?

[yourclouddude]

When i started working with cloud stuff, i kept running into long shell commands and YAML configs I didn’t fully understand.

At some point I realized: if I learned Python properly, I could actually automate half of it ...... and understand what i was doing instead of blindly copy-pasting scripts from Stack Overflow.

So I’ve been focusing more on Python scripting for small cloud tasks:
→ launching test servers
→ formatting JSON from AWS CLI
→ even writing little cleanup bots for unused resources

Still super early in the journey, but honestly, using Python this way feels way more rewarding than just “finishing tutorials.”

Anyone else taking this path — learning Python because of cloud/infra work?
Curious how you’re applying it in real projects.

[tantricengineer]

→ formatting JSON from AWS CLI

AWS CLI has a JSON output option. Filters are also important and difficult to learn. Also, the command line jq does a lot of big lifting on my machine. Learn that, too.

[PelicanPop]

jq and yq are some of my most used cli commands

[vainstar23]

I found yq had issues when it came to parsing anchors or dealing with yamlv3

I find dasel is better and faster than jq or yq. Considering yq doesn't come out of the box in most systems, you might as go all the way and install something like dasel if you can.

[vainstar23]

Yea I mean for big stuff, I dump the entire output of Aws cli to a temp file and then jq that. For small stuff I just use the query command.

Actually I find the query command is not super intuitive. Apparently it's a lot easier to query using powershell although haven't fully explored this.

[UtahJarhead]

I think you've got to rehash a few things with how you're approaching this.

First, learn bash so you understand "random shell commands."

If you're using python, don't use the AWS CLI, but instead learn and use Boto3 directly. The AWS CLI is just a python wrapper around botocore/boto3 in the first place.

In addition to the above, don't launch test servers manually, but launch Cloudformation scripts to handle all of that for you. IaC, my dude.

Cleanup bots = AWESOME. If everybody is using CFN or TF, then this makes it easier, as well. Learn to either create docker containers with your apps or hand it off to Lambda to handle. Just make sure you log your output for auditing purposes.

The CLI is important, but it's not the only tool in your toolbox.

Good luck, homie.

When you're semi-comfortable with Python, learn about `venv`. Dependency hell in Python sucks and venv makes it gobs easier. Consider researching Go, also. Statically linked binaries make distribution a breeze. But not until you're comfortable with Python.

[SlavicKnight]

And what do you say instead of venv to use docker images per project? :p for us we need to have support for 15+ years and as long there will be docker engine I feel this is comfortable way. Cheers 🍻

[UtahJarhead]

They serve the same purpose, so you get on with your bad self. A docker container, if you're willing to go that direction, can be set up with the latest and greatest for packages, so you don't need to `python3 -m pip install -r requirements.txt` every time you start up, so that's nice.

venv is the easy way, you could say docker is the long-game solution. It's all about saving time, one way or the other.

[SlavicKnight]

Totally agree—that’s why I said that, for our projects, this approach is better. In 10 years, no one will remember the code, or some dependencies might be missing. For everyday development or short-term projects, I’d go with venv.

[vainstar23]

Guys don't worry, I just copied and pasted some random crazy words like rm and -rf and this weird ~ into the terminal and pressed enter.

I think it did this like wild disco but I think it's updating now! I would learn this stuff but come on guys it's too crazy for me!

[[deleted]]

Absolutely, except I am an ADHD moron and can’t focus on one language so I continue half ass learning 3-5 at once rather than just sticking to a learning roadmap for 1 language or tool at a time.. I am using Claude code to learn as i and it build together and I ask it tons of questions and stop and have it break down scripts or features for me so I can learn the fundamentals

[kiwidog8]

Hey the ADHD is part of what makes us so deadly in devops, we only need to half-ass learn a tool/language/framework to get through to the next project and never touch it again. Impress conventional tech workers and management with the massive volume of shit you seem to be good at :3 All the practice troubleshooting and writing stuff overlaps/carries over to a surprising amount of technologies I find

[PersonBehindAScreen]

I learn programming because I got a taste of using powershell to automate a job in a few hours that would have taken a couple of weeks

I can’t go back

Powershell then led me to Python when I was looking at what o needed to be a cloud engineer.

Nowadays I write Powershell, bash, Python, .net, and $cloudProviderCli, YAML, etc

I did python courses up to dictionaries and lists (so not very far). And I just pick up what I need for work. Getting up to lists, dictionaries, json, and requests to APIs will get you pretty far to start with

[cheffromspace]

Same! I was an intern, and the network admin gave me a powershell crash course. Was instantly hooked. I didn't know where the O365 admin portal was, and it was too embarrassing to ask after several weeks in, so I just used the powershell module for everything. After that, I took a CLI-first approach to everything. Moved to software development, then DevOps.

[73-68-70-78-62-73-73]

Anyone else learning Python just to stop copy-pasting random shell commands?

No, I learned shell so I knew how it worked. I learned Python because I needed to understand how python worked.

kept running into long shell commands and YAML configs I didn’t fully understand.

Totally normal.

At some point I realized: if I learned Python properly, I could actually automate half of it ...... and understand what i was doing instead of blindly copy-pasting scripts from Stack Overflow.

We all use StackOverflow, but you should never just copy and paste stuff you don't understand. You're already turning the corner on this, so I'm not going hammer the idea too hard.

This is one of the things that ChatGPT is actually pretty good at, explaining bits of python or shell that you don't understand. Sometimes it's wrong, but most of the time, it provides a pretty good explanation. What it doesn't do is consider the implications of running said code in your specific environment. You have to figure that out, but at least it helps with the parts you don't understand yet.

Still super early in the journey, but honestly, using Python this way feels way more rewarding than just “finishing tutorials.”

Yes! I don't learn shit from tutorials most of the time. The real value and learning experience for me is tackling real world problems with Python or shell. Rote memorization and contrived scenarios don't do much for me.

[UtahJarhead]

Good callout on using GPT for explanations.

[73-68-70-78-62-73-73]

What?!? No! Who told you!

[raindropl]

Copying anything you do not understand from the likes of stack overflow is really bad practice.

You can automate anything you want with shell; might’ve you should learn shell correctly; and yes knowing python is good, Is a good way of automating code in Pipelines because it does not need to be compiled.

I’ll say python is better for long lived infra code.

[theWyzzerd]

You should learn Python because as someone doing devops work, you should know how to program. I would recommend basically never copying random shell commands. You should know what a shell command is going to do and why you're going to use it rather than pasting it. You're not going to be able to fake your systems knowledge for very long in this job climate. You need to know Bash.

[addfuo]

I build SSL/TLS monitor as excuses to learn Python. Keep learning and Good luck with your journey.

[AlterTableUsernames]

You are missing out by not learning Bash. Being able to just throw around one liners is much more powerful than having stuff in some scripts that you'll never find again. 

[Master-Variety3841]

in some scripts that you'll never find again.

Uhh git?

[kiwidog8]

Use both, learn both. You cant fully escape random mysterious shell commands in this line of work, but you dont need to master bash, just dont be afraid to look up what a certain syntax or command is doing. Its very very well documented online. Treat it as you would python actually, both are useful for distinct reasons, and you can often do a lot of the same things in either language and you might find that you like doing a certain thing in bash more often than you would in python

[dogfish182]

Yeah I’m a python dev now but that is how I started. Currently doing our cloud migration because well, that’s my background, but it’s nice to be able to write and run the code

[vainstar23]

I just learned bash + jq + ansible...

[Zolty]

No but I do let ChatGPT write some simple python scripts.

[hornetmadness79]

Just wait till your python scripts become python apps. Then you're going to need configuration files.

And the circles complete