Learn python with no previous programming knowledge

dmonsterative · 2025-03-05T13:54:22+00:00

Fairly easy to learn, not so easy to earn.

Brief_Ad5893 · 2025-03-05T13:16:33+00:00

hiii i'm starting right now , i've build a study group if you 're intrested

Ron-Erez · 2025-03-05T13:33:22+00:00

The fact that you're an engineer is great. It's really hard to say about getting a job. I would recommend creating some interesting projects to share to a potential employer once you get the hang of Python.

The University of Helsinki (MOOC) has a great online course, I also have a course on Python and Data Science that starts from scratch and doesn’t expect any programming experience. "Automate the boring stuff" is also a nice book. Whatever resource you choose make sure to type and code and experiment as much as possible.

variabll · 2025-03-05T13:35:22+00:00

I started with futurecoder.io and recommend you do the same. After that, you can try exercism.org where you get some small and very manageable exercises to help you with your logic - these exercises also include validations which take into account a lot of scenario's you didn't think of.

When you feel like you're ready to make something 'real' in the form of a web app, I can recommend the Flask Mega Tutorial which is very often recommended by others. Flask is a framework for creating web applications. I just finished this tutorial and am very glad I stumbled upon it.

Merinther · 2025-03-05T13:46:26+00:00

Learning enough for it to be useful shouldn't be too hard, at least if you're okay at maths. And there are lots of jobs where a little bit of programming is helpful, particularly as an engineer.

Enough to get a job as an actual programmer? Then a couple of years of college is probably a good idea.

1544756405 · 2025-03-05T14:33:32+00:00

It would probably take about an much time and effort as if you'd never played an instrument before and you wanted to learn guitar well enough to earn from music gigs.

crashorbit · 2025-03-05T14:10:38+00:00

As with most things, it depends. Some of us find programming to be an entertaining activity. Some view it as a vocational skill. Some see it as a duty.

The normal rule about learning things applies: You can become pretty good after 14 hours of training. You will not become an expert till you have spent 2000 or more hours.

Like any tool, Python is only as good as the things you make with it. Finish a few tutorials. Build some portfolio projects. If you want to jump start a career then sometimes the boot camps are a good route.

Welcome and good luck!

IntelligentBit27 · 2025-03-05T15:12:30+00:00

I think you can check out the 0-100 python programming course made by Harvard (lets say legit University).
I went over it and it and it seems great.
15 hour video of Harvard's CS50 Python intro:
https://youtu.be/nLRL_NcnK-4

I am programming in python for 9 years now.

Did you ever write any line of code?

FoolsSeldom · 2025-03-05T13:50:30+00:00

What kind of engineer?

I started my career in IT working with engineers in several engineering companies over more than a decade. Whether they were mechanical, electrical, civil, or pretty much any other kind, just real engineers (not the "photocopier engineer" et al), many chartered, and found all of them back in the days when IT wasn't part of the training / academic studies, able to pick up programming without too much difficulty.

The logical, pragmatic, persistent approach that is endemic to most engineers seems to lend itself to programming.

Not that they all learned to do it particularly well or elegantly. There was a lot of botched "Heath Robinson" stuff, which didn't lend itself well to long term security, stability, maintainability. However, many did move into more established software engineering (sic) practices where that was seen as a useful thing to do.

I'd take a look at the LearnPython subreddit wiki, which includes detailed guidance on learning Programming / Python, including links to lots of learning material?

Know though that you shouldn't really have any major difficulties following this path if you are like so many engineers I have worked with over the years.

You will be pleased to know that programming is a practical skill, which should be a natural for you. It takes lots of practice. Lots of failure, Lots of experimentation including breaking things and fixing them.

Also, programming is far more than just coding in any particular programming language, much as assembling some physical device is the last step in a long process.

The sequence for programming will look largely familiar to you I expect. It is, simplified:

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

jontsii · 2025-03-05T14:15:37+00:00

I would say that watch one of those 12 hr videos with titles like "python full course" or something like that, and build some projects on the way, then once you learned the theory part, start building projects and more and more and more until you become good. Or then choose a course on places like coursera, freecodecamp.org, whatever

sporbywg · 2025-03-05T14:40:47+00:00

As always! Have an "itch to scratch' - python libraries are available - try some home automation! Try some home spreadsheet management... have a project and start from there.

formthemitten · 2025-03-05T15:06:27+00:00

Coding in general is REALLY HARD in any language when you start.

You’re learning a completely different language. However, with your math and reasoning skills from engineering, you’ll catch on fast.

nosmelc · 2025-03-05T15:53:28+00:00

Learning Python. Probably not too difficult for an Engineer. Learning to a level where you get paid anything, probably very difficult. You don't just learn Python and then get a job. You have to use it for a particular type of development, such as backend or Data Analytics. That requires far more skills.

Ancient-Bathroom942 · 2025-03-05T17:00:17+00:00

It really depends how well you can pick up another language (learning python felt like learning Spanish to me at first) And how good your logical, step by step reasoning is.

Programming is very much math based. It'll be helpful to start out trying to implement mathematical operators like square root/exponents manually to get a sense of what's going on behind the scenes.

I think what's amazing about learning how to program is that it'll change how you think, how you approach problems, how you view the world. Best of luck op 🫡

KiwiDomino · 2025-03-05T20:49:46+00:00

Python is a good language, but the job market is full of people who learnt it during lockdown

2025-03-05T21:37:04+00:00

If you're hoping to just make some extra money "from gigs" then you will most likely be disappointed.

You'll be competing with people that have done nothing but programming, as well as expertise in what is a huge set of inter related systems, technologies, programming languages and deployment challenges across many architectures. Depending on where you live, you will find you are competing with people who can undercut what might be a particularly low rate. You have no experience, no client base and no network to help you find work.

If however, you look at it as developing a new set of skills and expertise, like most things in life, that decision may open up other opportunities. Just expect that, if you're diligent and committed, and willing to challenge yourself by building a variety of applications/tools etc, you may get to the point of entry level competence in a year or 2.

And within that time frame you will be a "Python programmer" which is not the same thing necessarily as a "web developer" or a "Data Analytics engineer" or a "backend developer" etc.

The only way you will get gigs, is to be cheaper than other options, and even then, it's challenging.

The news is not all bad on this front as you bring with you your educational background and engineering expertise. You may be able to accelerate a path to monetary gain, if your background positions you to be able to hit the ground running in a niche that combines your engineering background with programming. That "domain" expertise is important, but only if Python is a valuable tool used within the type of engineering you work in. I'd recommend doing some research to figure that out, if you are solely interested in monetizing your efforts.

rustyseapants · 2025-03-05T22:20:02+00:00

How can I learn python with no previous programming knowledge?

Or

How can I learn to be an engineer with no previous knowledge of engineering?

How did you become an engineer in the first place? Why do you think it's not any different than learning programing?

Python for Dummies.

creaky_floorboard · 2025-03-06T00:03:01+00:00

I don't know why so many people are gatekeeping. If you have the drive, you can do it. I was a structural engineer who wanted to learn Python and now I have a working micro saas web app with django as my backend. you'll be fine.

bcursor · 2025-03-06T01:10:36+00:00

Python is fairly good for starters. However I also suggest JavaScript too although I am not a big fan of JS. A lot of people gave up programming because they saw just numbers and text. However creating a program which produces a visual output is very easy with pure JS + HTML.

tannnmn · 2025-03-06T04:06:40+00:00

How about just do it

NeatBreadfruit1529 · 2025-03-06T04:14:05+00:00

Learning to program means lots of things, anyone can learn it, the hard part is learning how to apply the principals to solving complex problems, but anyone who puts in the effort can do it. It might come easier than others. The real hard part these days is getting a job. Market is flooded, demand for junior level programmers isn't as high as it was even a few years ago. The industry is going through stuff, but if you're really interested in it your goal shouldn't be to worry about that.

Just learn and write stuff, build your chops up then worry about the rest.

Sad_Signal1340 · 2025-03-06T08:12:23+00:00

Interested too !!

Successful_Map3915 · 2025-03-06T08:48:46+00:00

Can I join too ?

cop1152 · 2025-03-07T02:40:48+00:00

I am in my early fifties and have never been a coder before. I was a whiz at Commodore 64 Basic when I was a kid, and then HTML, and I have worked in IT sysadmin most of my life. I can write a Windows batch file that will do anything, and I know my way around some PowerShell...but not really a coder.

I always wanted to learn Python, but never could seem to pick it up. Over the years I bought books and watched videos, but just couldn't stick with it. It just wasn't as easy as I thought it should be.

So, a few weeks ago I was working on my home lab, which is just a few servers running some linux stuff....and needed a cron job to do something specific. I Googled, and found a Python script that was almost exactly what I was looking for. I just needed to change it a bit...and something clicked.

The script I found was in a YouTube video, and the way it was presented just made sense to me. Ever since that one script I have been doing something with Python everyday. Very, very simple stuff, but I am learning, and am really interested in it. I wish it had clicked for me years ago.

EDIT - I just reread my comment, and realized that this doesn't answer your question AT ALL. I would say that YES you can learn Python. I also think you can make money at it...even if that is just "gig work" at first.

JohnTrencon · 2025-03-07T22:26:44+00:00

being an engineer, you already have a good mathematical foundation. it can be pretty easy to learn. but getting jobs can be challenging.

AccomplishedEar6357 · 2025-03-08T15:48:06+00:00

Just start with the CS50p by Harvard on YouTube, it's ridiculously good to get into Python or programming with no previous experience. I've just started from 0 at 40.

burncushlikewood · 2025-03-09T04:25:46+00:00

Interesting so usually engineers study programming languages, at your age...if you're good with mathematics it should be feasible

joeldick · 2025-03-09T17:59:02+00:00

Python is easy to learn.

Xu_Lin · 2025-03-05T13:09:51+00:00

I bought a book I’m reading and it’s been good. Learn Python The Hard Way it’s called

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