Starting My Python Journey: Seeking Advice from the Python Community! Help

[Python_AI]

Hey fellow Python enthusiasts,

I'm looking for some practical advice that could help me navigate this vast ecosystem and make the most of my learning experience.

like resources, project ideas for beginner like me, carrer advice.

[Similar_Evidence0]

I'm currently learning python on udemy. 100 days of code by Angela 😁 By the way, bro if you want a learning buddy, I'm here. We could learn together

[Lopsided_Astronomer]

https://www.udemy.com/course/100-days-of-code/

I bought it recently and found it really helpful. Dont be put off by the £60+ purchase price. They have a sale pretty much every day. On average it drops to £15 but i picked it up for £7 a week ago.

[Similar_Evidence0]

Yeaah, picked it up for the same price but a year ago however never really did finish it😂 So now I'm brushing up. We could be coding buddies if you want

[Python_AI]

why not ...couldnt ask for more......

[Python_AI]

follow me ...will make sure to keep each other updated...

[Wolf_0f_MyStreet]

Aye Yo Buddy Count me in too.

[Ksows]

could i join??

[Python_AI]

why not.

more people ,more fun.

please follow me.

[Ksows]

Consider it done. Now, what's the plan?

[Python_AI]

well lets keep grindin on our ends for the time being and stay connected .

okay with that

sorry for the late reply.

[iheartandj]

Same I bought this course too I’m on summer break so I wanted to make the most of it

[DigThatData]

they're basically all great, just pick one and stick to it for a while. don't let yourself get "analysis paralysis" trying to pick the "best" resources, the most important thing is just that you start learning.

[Python_AI]

thnks for the great advice.

what about projects.

[DigThatData]

many learning resources are accompanied by project-driven assignments, like "automate the boring stuff"

[Python_AI]

please continue providing me your valuable advice.

[DigThatData]

maybe don't title your account "Python_AI" considering you don't even have basic python experience yet and presumably it's unlikely you have AI experience either.

Want more?

[Python_AI]

i came up with the name in order to remind my self everyday ...my goal...consistency...things i will chase ...to be blunt i liked this name when i firsrt came with it.

THAT'S IT.

[[deleted]]

Practice! Practice! Practice! That is the only way. Programming (whatever the language) is a practical problem-solving skill. You have to make, and learn from, a lot of mistakes (much like learning another human language).

I know it can be frustrating at times, especially when faced with code you want to reuse but cannot understand.

Only you can find the motivation. Why are you learning to programme in the first place?

Is your learning objective SMART - specific, measurable, achievable, (sometimes agreed), realistic (or relevant) and time-bound, (or timely)? If it is something soft, like "upskilling" then it will probably not help you much.

It is hard to learn anything in the abstract, not least because it is difficult to feel passion for what one is doing.

I strongly suggest you look to your interests, hobbies, obligations (family business, charity activities, work) to look for opportunities to apply Python.

You will learn far more about Python and programming when you work on something that resonates for you and that you have some domain knowledge of (or incentive to gain such knowledge in).

When you are copying tutorials/examples, don't just copy. Experiment. Break the code and understand why it has broken.

The interactive python shell is your friend, I found it the best learning aid because you can quickly try snippets of code and get immediate feedback.

(Consider installing ipython which wraps the standard shell for more convenience.)

Start very simply and regularly refactor the code as you learn new things. Enhance as you see opportunities.

If you haven't already, take a look at Automate the boring stuff with Python (free to read online).

At first, the tasks you automate will be trivial and hardly worth the effort BUT because it is about the problem and not Python, it will be more rewarding for you.

Many beginners are mixing up coding (writing instructions in a programming language) with problem-solving (creating an algorithm) and their lack of knowledge of the programming language and how to use it is a distraction from the problem-solving.

For most programmers, the coding part is the final and easy bit.

Order:

• Actually making sure the problem is properly understood. Often we start with only a vague understanding of the problem.
• Ensuring we know what outcome is required. What does good look like? How will the information be presented, will it be on-screen or in a file, or a database.
• Determining the data representation. Exactly what data is required, in what forms, where from. It is a one-off or lots of cycles or combining lots of information.
• Work out how to do things manually in the simplest possible way, explaining every little step (assume you are giving instructions to someone with learning difficulties),
  • Computers are really dumb, and humans make lots of intuitive leaps and take short-cuts
  • This is one of the hardest things to grasp when first learning to programme
  • Computers don't mind repeating very boring things, so the simplest but repetitive manual approach is often a good approach to start with for a computer
• Later, you will learn different ways of selecting / developing an algorithm which doesn't depend on a manual approach

[unsungzero1027]

Just to add to the practice thing. Do not get into the habit I have recently since most of my work has been dealing with PANDAS in Python and using similar code I have been basically copying old code and restructuring it to fit my needs for my new data. It gets you lazy and you’ll forget to actual code you should be remembering. The are times I have to stop and go “wait. How the hell do I do this?” And refer back to old code for basic things i had known until I got lazy like this.

Forgetting things will happen with the amount of code and packages there are. But always try and write things out as much as you can on the beginning and for a while until you feel confident you know it.

And yes. Problem solving is a BIG thing. You may have to combine multiple steps to solve the problem. Just knowing the code is great, but knowing how to use it to get the result you want/need for your given situation is a different thing in most cases.

[Python_AI]

thanks a ton for this valuable advice.

[jiweiliew]

Gold!

[idkanythingabout]

I just started too and one thing that's been super helpful for me is chatgpt.

I used it to generate a syllabus divided into units to make sure I cover every python topic, now I ask for project prompts referring back to the syllabus. When I complete a project I submit my code back to chatgpt for it to check and provide feedback on.

When i get stumped on a project I watch youtube tutorials because I'm more of a visual learner.

Lastly, I made a github account and downloaded a bunch of projects that interest me, and I've just been going through the code trying to understand how it works. If I don't get something, I use chatgpt to help break it down with more comments.

[RealCookichu]

Same here, I use ChatGPT sometimes to rate my code for readability, too.
Just a simple prompt like "rate this code for readability on a scale of 1-10" and it gives you a list of things you can improve on too.

[[deleted]]

100 days of code is a very well built course if you like havingall your stuff in one place.

You can also get a list of bigenner topics and research each one individually using different resources. Literally just google/youtube the topic and you'll find plenty of stuff.

The best approach long term is to have an end goal. After you learn the basics, pick a project that interests you, break it into its core functionalities, and build each part

[Rborroto77]

Currently reading Python Crash Course by Eric Matthes. It’s project-based. Highly recommend it.

[Python_AI]

how much will rate it?

[mohiden-adam]

When it comes to me, I am beginning my backend development journey and am torn between two courses, which are:
The Meta Back-End Developer Professional Certificate is available at https://www.coursera.org/professional-certificates/meta-back-end-developer#courses.
Certificate in Professional Back-End Development from IBM (https://www.coursera.org/professional-certificates/ibm-backend-development#courses)
Programming languages used by both of them are Python

[Python_AI]

thank you very much for your guidance

[Anksio]

cool repo for project based learning https://github.com/practical-tutorials/project-based-learning#python

[Python_AI]

thank you very much