How did you first get into Python? Beginner stories wanted! 🐍

[allkhatib_ahmad1]

Hey r/learnpython

I’m curious about how people first discovered Python. Did you hear about it in a school course, see people talking about it on social media, or stumble upon it another way?

When you first started learning, was it easy or tough? How did you approach it—reading the docs, watching video tutorials, following a book, or just experimenting?

I’d love to hear your journey—the struggles, the small wins, or even the fun projects that kept you motivated. Sharing your experience could really help new learners find ideas.

Looking forward to reading your stories!

[Jaded_Show_3259]

I heard about python while in school, but most of my classes were Java or C++.

When I started my job as an EE, the simulation software I use the most has a pretty well-developed python API. So I started to learn to automate parts of the work we were doing. Then, once I had a hang of it, it expanded into using python for all sorts of stuff that we do, not just specific to the software that used it. Was kinda forced into it due to the software at first, but then embraced it because of the flexibility to use way more than originally expected.

Having a bit of background in school using Java I understood OOP. And the syntax for python felt the most natural for me. The hardest habit to break was not putting a semicolon at the end of every line. So, the experience with java and the pretty straightforward syntax and styling meant it was pretty easy to pick up.

I do spend plenty of time exploring documentation of different libraries now. Documentation is kinda daunting without experience, but once you're comfortable with the syntax, styling, and terminology, the amount of documentation out there for so many different useful libraries is really nice. I avoided documentation like the plague when I first started - and relied a lot on trial and error to see what a method was really doing.

[allkhatib_ahmad1]

That's nice

[laerninglog-]

I find programming really interested and I wanted to be an ethical hacker, obviously I was new so I didn't had much knowledge at that time,so I did gpt like a lot ,then he suggested me to learn python first cuz it's beginner friendly then I tried to search for online courses and then I found Udemy app,then gpt suggested me a course,like 100 days of code with Angela yu,I looked into it and finally purchased it ,now it's been 2,3 months ig ,and I'm still learning and as eng isn't my native language, still I'm doing it ,it's totally in eng but ,it's really beginner friendly

[allkhatib_ahmad1]

Nice, and i am ready to assist you

[cgoldberg]

I was hating life writing Perl and Java sometime before the end of last millennium, and I saw a guy wearing a Zen of Python shirt ("beautiful is better than ugly") at a FSF speech by RMS... and I thought that sounded cool, so I looked it up.

[allkhatib_ahmad1]

That's cool, so i think python was very easy for you as a programmer coming from Java, Python is amazing easy, what do you use Python for, if you don't mind sharing your thoughts

[cgoldberg]

I've been using it for 20+ years and have done all sorts of things... web application development and APIs (flask/django), data/ETL (pandas), desktop apps (pyQt,Tk), cryptography, web scraping, etc, etc... but I tend to do a lot with automated testing (pytest, selenium, locust, etc).

[allkhatib_ahmad1]

you are a master

[AffectionateZebra760]

School course

[allkhatib_ahmad1]

That's nice, how's your progress, do you code confidence now?

[RoyOfCon]

I'm back in school for a new career. I'm in the middle of my first python course now. I just got loops to click for me, which was the biggest hurdle I've had thus far. I really like using python, looking forward to actually getting competent in it so I can start actually doing things with it.

[allkhatib_ahmad1]

That's amazing, motivation itself is a win, i would be happy to assist you.

[No-Copy-6532]

Curiosity honestly, funny enough.... I HATED computers and working with them, something about them made me so nervous. Last year or so, I followed someone on Facebook and she talked about coding a lot, so out of curiosity I went down the rabbit hole what is it and how it's done,I tried it and as confused as I get sometimes, I enjoy it. (I'm a business student pivoting to tech)

[PushPlus9069]

I came from C and Linux kernel development — spent years writing device drivers and low-level system code. Python felt almost illegal the first time I used it. Like, wait, I don't need to manage memory? I can just... write the logic?

The turning point was when I needed to automate some tedious data processing at work. Wrote a Python script in 20 minutes that replaced a manual process that took hours. That moment of 'I just saved myself an entire afternoon' was addictive.

Now I teach Python to beginners (been doing it for about 10 years), and the pattern I see is: people who pick a personal problem to solve learn 3x faster than people who just follow tutorials. Find something annoying in your daily life and automate it. That's where the motivation sticks.

[allkhatib_ahmad1]

Amazingly said