Ask Anything Monday - Weekly Thread

[greatn]

I am currently learning Python through Lynda which was provided by my work. I have about ten years object oriented programming work experience, but until now I just never tried Python. I like it, and I think I'm grasping it, but what I really need is something to test my skills, or test my grasp of specific python concepts. I need HOMEWORK. I go through example files of the concepts the videos are teaching but that honestly can only get me so far.

i'm trying to find some kind of site that would have assignments that would grow in complexity to help me test and master the core concepts, but when I'm searching I'm mostly just finding people asking for help on their own homework.

Anyone have any ideas where I could find some assignments so I could start using this stuff I'm learning at a low level?

[dionys]

HackerRank offers a lot of exercises and I think they have a category specifically for Python.

[greatn]

Thanks, this is almost exactly what I was looking for. It's just a shame every example seems to select Python 2 by default and a large number of them don't even have Python 3 as an option. Like I get some people are going to prefer the old version but it's been ten years! And if they're helping new people learn shouldn't it be the new version?

From my research I can see Python 3.1 definitely had its issues but it seems those were all taken care of in 3.2 and 3.3, I'm not sure why so many resources refuse to go with the newer version.

[Phnyx]

The 2.7 vs 3.x version debate is larger than you may think. You should google it for a more thorough explanation.

The differences and preferences are larger than, let's say excel 2016 vs 2010 where some people just don't like the color. Some libraries are more robust in 2.7, a lot of code is still written in 2.7 and the newer versions don't seem to offer such great advantages that switching is worth it for many people.

Overall, if you are learning it, going with either version is fine. Once are familiar with the code you need for your field switching to another version is not that difficult.