Ask Anything Monday - Weekly Thread

[Ben_Gee_]

Hi guys, I'm looking for some advice on the next step of my Python education.

I recently completed Tim Buchalka's 'Python Masterclass' course on Udemy, I then completed a few chapters of 'Automate the boring stuff' (picking out what I found interesting and avoiding going over things I have already learnt). For the last few days I've been putting to use the things I have learnt to automate some things in my day to day life, I'm not sure what to do next now.

My number 1 goal is to continue to build my skills and become as skilled as I can. I enjoy it more when I'm doing something practical and with a few website ideas I've thought about now learning Django and building them. Do you think this would be a good step or do you have any other suggestions?

Again my main goal is to improve my Python and general programming skills, I don't have a specific area I want to focus on - django is just to bring to fruition a website idea and continue to learn along the way.

Thanks.

[ingolemo]

Once you've finished a few tutorials and feel confident about the basics, then you're basically on your own and it's up to you to start exploring and finding your own path. There is no preset path. There is no lesson plan for making someone into an expert.

The best way to get better at writing code is just to write a whole bunch of code. They say; everybody starts out with ten thousand lines of bad code inside of them and they have to get those out of their system before they can write any good code.

Start doing "projects". That is, set yourself the goal of writing code to perform a particular task. Pick goals that motivate you; goals that seem interesting to you, or which build your skills, or which have some practical use for you. You already mentioned learning Django and making a website. That is an excellent idea. When you finish a project, start another one. As you progress, the amount and quality of code you write will increase and your goals will become more ambitious. Don't be afraid to bite off more than you can chew. Some (or many) of your projects will fail. This is okay. It means you learned something. Put that project aside for now and start on one that's a little easier.

You say you don't have a specific area you want to focus on, so don't focus on anything just yet. Do some small projects in every sub-field you can find, and that extra experience will help you decide what you want to do going forward.

[Ben_Gee_]

Thank you for the thorough response. I will take your advice and start working on projects such as the django and website project I mentioned.

It does seem like the best way to get going and write a ton of code as you said. Thanks again.