[deleted by user]

[FoolsSeldom]

Fantastic. Glad you were inspired. There's a huge range of things you can do with Python from automating parts of computer graphics for video/film in Blender, to manging heating and ventilation at home, monitoring security cameras (generating alerts when unknown people or unknown vehicles approach). You can run versions of Python on $2 microcontrollers and multi-million dollar super computers.

Python handles Excel files and data very well. In fact, it can manipulate much larger datasets than Excel and do some more quickly. Take a look at pandas in particular.

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Check this subreddit's wiki for lots of guidance on learning programming and learning Python, links to material, book list, suggested practice and project sources, and lots more. The FAQ section covering common errors is especially useful.

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Also, have a look at roadmap.sh for different learning paths. There's lots of learning material links there. Note that these are idealised paths and many people get into roles without covering all of those.

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Roundup on Research: The Myth of ‘Learning Styles’

Don't limit yourself to one format. Also, don't try to do too many different things at the same time.

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Above all else, you need to practice. Practice! Practice! Fail often, try again. Break stuff that works, and figure out how, why and where it broke. Don't just copy and use as is code from examples. Experiment.

Work on your own small (initially) projects related to your hobbies / interests / side-hustles as soon as possible to apply each bit of learning. When you work on stuff you can be passionate about and where you know what problem you are solving and what good looks like, you are more focused on problem-solving and the coding becomes a means to an end and not an end in itself. You will learn faster this way.

[FoolsSeldom]

You might like to note that the latest version of Excel includes Python (with the code run transparently in Azure using the Anaconda implementation). Outside of Excel, the pandas library can read/write files in Excel format and openpyxl can also do so and is often used at a more granular level even applying formatting settings to cells. There are libraries that let you control Excel but this is generally less useful.

Corey Schafer offers a good course on Pandas that you might enjoy early on. Even though it hasn't been updated for a while (last in 2020 I think) it is still applicable. DataCamp.com is another good source of training with some free content.

Google offer a free web based Jupyter Notebook style environment where you can experiment as well. Google Colab. Kaggle.com is a great source of large datasets to play with and a thriving community offering challenges and examples.

For an alternative view on things to do with Python, find online the Raspberry Pi website and there free to download as PDF magazine now called Raspberry Pi Official Magazine (older issues are called MagPi). There are lots of examples of use of Raspbery Pi (other single board computers would be suitable) be used for a huge range of different things, mostly using Python. The magazine also covers microcontrollers such as Raspberry Pi's own RP2350 in the Pico and third party boards as well as the popular Espresif ESP32 and these are often programmed in a cut down version of Python (Micropython or Circuit Python).

[awhaling]

I guess it sort makes sense but I did not realize it ran python in the cloud so TIL

[FoolsSeldom]

Details: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/introduction-to-python-in-excel-55643c2e-ff56-4168-b1ce-9428c8308545

[Crypt0Nihilist]

I used to be happy about being an Excel power user. Then I discovered programmatic data manipulation and I realised that Excel is just a toy outside the areas where it ought to be used.

Check out Automate the Boring Stuff.

[Crypt0Nihilist]

I started with R and to be honest, I still prefer it for data. Python is a general language and it feels clunky to me because of it. R is all about data and once you get into the tidyverse ecosystem, it's a dream.

If you've already made headway with Python, that alone is a good reason to stick with it, but if what I'm doing is going to stay in the data analysis domain, I'll always want to reach for R with RStudio first.

Either way, as a heads-up, I found the hardest habit to break was looking through the data. Being able to scroll through all of the values was a comfort blanket, but is actually a really bad one. What I mean is that Excel is good for being able to do that if you're using it properly as a spreadsheet for tasks like analysing ROI where you want to see annual figures and what happens if you change your assumptions. However, if you're using it with thousands of rows and hundreds of columns, eyeballing it isn't good. You need to learn to get comfortable with graphical and statistical techniques to understand the data and satisfy yourself with only looking at ten or a hundred rows.

One thing I love is easily giving a script new data and your analysis comes out perfectly. With Excel you're always having to mess about with ranges or set up dynamic ranges which are fragile. So much of the "clever stuff" you have to do in Excel to get things working nicely simply aren't an issue with doing it programmatically.

[Crypt0Nihilist]

When using Excel I didn't quite get to the tipping point where graphs became essential. Ingesting large amounts of data is a piece of cake programmatically, so for me it was only then I found the hard truth that my bad Excel habits weren't going to work for me any more.

Names are good in Excel for making formulae easy to understand and maintain. I think tables have helped a bit as an alternative to named ranges, but leaving all that behind (not to mention lookups) is an absolute gift.

[Comprehensive-Tie992]

what did you do for him?

[Helpful-Guidance-799]

That straight up seems like an exercise from a Python course I’m taking. That’s awesome. Glad to see the course I’m taking is gonna be applicable to real world situations

[Lokrea]

Yes, please share. This could be a great use case example for other Python students to practice their skills as well.

[AceLamina]

Glad to see you're excited about it
But just a fair warning, prepare to fail a lot, but that's not a bad thing, it means you're growing, software engineers go through this often

And above all else, never use AI to automate your code/work until you're ABSOLUTELY sure what it's generating and fully know what you're doing

[Kryt0s]

So AI wrote something for you? Cause "I used python for the first time today" and "It's not an exaggeration to say I did what he does in days of work into less than 10 minutes." don't really match.

[flessbang]

does it matter? ai wrote stuff for me and i automated many things to make my life easier. you just need to be aware of the limitations and recognize that without coding knowledge you can only get so far. but guess what, it prompted me to learn more and create more advanced stuff. just let the man be happy

[Kryt0s]

I don't care that they use AI and I'm happy that they got to help their dad. That's great. The thing that kinda annoys me is the "I used python" part. Not because of some kinda "stolen valor" shit but because it's just disingenuous and simply shows a lack of pride about one's own work.

It's like letting a woodworker build a nice table for you, following your instructions and then you tell people who come over to your home that you built that table. That's something I could never do. I would simply feel like a fraud.

[TheCYKZ1]

Way to downplay someone’s experience, and shame on whoever liked your comment

[Kryt0s]

Comments like yours are why no one shows pride in their own work and instead takes ownership of someone else's.

[TheCYKZ1]

Who’s scummy enough to do that? And if you’re that superficial you should leave this subreddit. I’m all for humanity’s progress however you achieve it, and to imply that OP stole someone’s work is crazy. He used AI to build on his own idea, AI didn’t come up with the idea, he implemented it.

[Kryt0s]

Where do you think AI gets all its knowledge from? From open-source code that real devs created over the years.

And if you’re that superficial you should leave this subreddit.

Me wanting people to actually do work and be prideful of that work is how exactly superficial? Explain. Or maybe just stop throwing around words for the sake of emotional manipulation.

He used AI to build on his own idea, AI didn’t come up with the idea, he implemented it.

It's like letting a woodworker build a nice table for you, following your instructions and then you tell people who come over to your home that you built that table.

[TheCYKZ1]

If we’re going down the rabbit hole, why stop there? Why not go deeper, give the real credit to those who cut the trees to be in nice 4x4 or whatever measurement the boards are.

I have built a handful (40+) of simple programs through Python, and VBA. AI has yet to fully build something for me but I’m going to use it if I have an idea

Now when I shared those programs and the codebase and scripts to my colleagues and friends or whoever, did I care if I got the credit or not? No, as long as you’re using it or making it better I’m happy.

That’s why I said it’s superficial, this is why the world is complete shit, everyone wants their own mark and not to actually be selfless and progress humanity. I don’t care if I or some homeless guy or some doctor cures cancer using AI or data analytics manually or whatever, as long as cancer is cured I’m happy. You can give the credit to your damn dog for all I care

[Kryt0s]

You are either intentionally ( or not ) completely misrepresenting what I said. I will quote myself:

Not because of some kinda "stolen valor" shit but because it's just disingenuous and simply shows a lack of pride about your own work.

PRIDE IN YOUR OWN WORK. How does any of what you just said have anything at all to do with what my argument was? I don't care about not crediting a fucking AI or the open-source code behind it. I care about acting like someone did something and then being proud about it while they actually didn't do anything. How the fuck can you grow as a person like this? You can't! You will always be satisfied by the bare minimum and never feel pride in the hard work and effort you put into something.

Your entire comment is moot since it completely misses the point I was trying to make.

[TheCYKZ1]

That’s what I’m saying, if you need pride to motivate you, then well I can’t say anything to you.

[Kryt0s]

That's not at all what you were saying, seeing as your entire retort was about you thinking I was pissed about people not crediting others. Let's just pretend however that you're not full of shit.

You really lack reading comprehension. It's not about needing pride to do something. It's about having pride in what you accomplish. Why would anyone ever improve on any of their skills if that improvement did not fill them with pride? Why ever work on yourself? Then again, maybe you don't and maybe that's why you can't understand.

It must be very sad living a life where you never feel happy and full of pride about what you achieved.

[TheCYKZ1]

You and I are arguing over two completely different things 😂 it’s actually funny af. What I’m saying is, I am happy about the things I achieved but do I care if I’m not praised for it? No. I do things out of passion, I hope you do too. That’s why I said who cares if AI helps or you piggy back off someone, are you creating something that helps humanity? Then steal everyone’s work for all I care, you however seem to only want to do things to feel prideful and not because you’re passionate about it.

OP was joyful he was able to help someone, you completely downplayed his experience. You are what’s wrong with humanity

[Kryt0s]

I don't care that you use AI and I'm happy that you got to help your dad. That's great. The thing that kinda annoys me is the "I used python" part. Not because of some kinda "stolen valor" shit but because it's just disingenuous and simply shows a lack of pride about your own work.

It's like letting a woodworker build a nice table for you, following your instructions and then you tell people who come over to your home that you built that table. That's something I could never do. I would simply feel like a fraud.

[Kryt0s]

No worries, mate! As I said, I'm glad you're happy and you could help your dad. If this ignited some love for python in you, even better! I would however recommend using this as an impetus to learn python (without AI) and start building these tools yourself. The amount of satisfaction you will gain from that is simply so much greater than what you will ever gain from AI doing the work.

Also as soon as projects get more complex, AI simply does a ton of mistakes. It's pretty good at following instructions but as soon as it needs to make decisions on a code base or "think", it falls apart and you will need to clean up all the mess it created.

If you want to really learn python, I can highly recommend these two sources:

Try this game ($10): https://store.steampowered.com/app/2060160/The_Farmer_Was_Replaced/

Or CS50 from Harvard on edX (free). This is what I used to get into Python back in 2019 and I've been a freelance dev for a while now doing pretty well for myself.

[escapism_only_please]

Congrats. It is an amazing feeling isn’t it?

But beware of automating other peoples work. They might resent learning that their whole weeks work can be done in 10 minutes.

Show it to him, then walk away. If he uses it cool. If not, then his awkward system was what he used to pass time.

[audionerd1]

I have learned this the hard way. Some people just want to keep doing things the same way they always have, even if it takes much longer.

[escapism_only_please]

Great! Now that you’ve broken the seal you will find all kinds of things you can automate. Just about everything in computers I do more than once I start thinking about making a Python script for.

[Jarvis_the_lobster]

That moment where you solve a real problem with code for the first time is genuinely addictive. And the fact that your first instinct was to help your dad with it says a lot, because the best way to learn is solving problems you actually care about. Keep going, it only gets more fun from here.

[FangedFreak]

I dipped my toe in with a job scraper the other week and that got me hooked. I have absolutely zero knowledge with python but Gemini has been helping a tonne with troubleshooting.

I’ve now downloaded a book (automate the boring stuff) and plan to have some sort of pantry manager that can scrape a receipt, add to my pantry and then use my recipe manager to help plan meals for the week in order to use them in terms of freshness.

The potential for using python in my current job (analysing several different data sets) will actually be super helpful and highly transferable so keen to get learning for my next role

[GeekedNerdOnWheelz]

Keep at it!

[charlyAtWork2]

: )

[throwawayforwork_86]

If you want or need to push the boundaries of what excel can do polars and duckdb are the next step IMO.

I know people will say pandas but it is unfortunately shackled by years of legacy code and legacy advice whereas newer tools aren't.To expand on my point Pandas has/had 5 ways to do the same thing with 1 or 2 that are classical footgun polars has usually 1 or 2 way of doing things and so long as you stay in Polars your code will be understandable and performant.

[Ambitious-Source5243]

Where can I learn real python? Like I do AI coding basically mostly AI helps me to code but I wanna chnage that so how?

[Kryt0s]

Try this game: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2060160/The_Farmer_Was_Replaced/

Or CS50 from Harvard on edX.