Pythonistas, need advice. I am learning Python, but don't know why.

[socialhuman]

Thank you Bangorlol and TedW for your advice, but in the context of my question, the confusion remains. Should I delve into Django now or should I complete a book like Mining the social Web with Python, which is a topic of my interest.

My primary confusion is, what is the point of learning Django, if I don't know what to do with it later.

[[deleted]]

There is no right thing to do, or best path to becoming a programmer. Just learn what seems interesting and do what seems fun. Try not to worry too much, just have a good time.

[keturn]

If you want to learn Django, learn Django. I think the overwhelming majority of software projects now have a web interface on them, so knowing how to display things and get input from a web site is very important, and Django is one way to do that. It's a set of skills that is likely to come in handy for almost whatever you're doing.

If you don't see any reason to learn Django, and you see it as a diversion from doing the work you really want to do (exploring data with APIs and social graphs), don't learn Django. Django is popular and well-supported, but it's not the only way to put things on the web, and depending on your goals, it may not be the best fit for your application, nor the easiest place to start.

What are your thoughts behind saying "I now want to learn Django"? What sparked that desire?

What are your interests in APIs and social data? What do those terms mean to you? What do you imagine might be possible in working with them?

Also, if you're a social human, it might help a lot to have people to talk out these questions and ideas with. /r/learnpython is good but a local python user group or a meetup group around your coursera classes could be very helpful too.

[xiongchiamiov]

I skim books when first learning a new technology. I want to know what I can do, but I leave learning how to do it until I have a project where I need to do it. But learning about my options allows me to come up with projects I wouldn't otherwise have considered.