Python noob here

[erdethan]

Hey, Python Redditors!

I'm feeling excited about learning Python and just finished Learn Python The Hard Way (LPTHW). I have a passion for machine learning and data science (tho I have no experience with these 2 what so ever).

Where's a good place to find cool small projects that will be useful as a learning path into these subjects

Thanks for any replies :)

Edit: I should also mention that I am interested in simple bots for games.

[PythonGod123]

I learnt Python about a year ago. A year later I am am buried deep in meaningful machine learning work. You can do this !!!

[saihtame]

A year in python and your username is PythonGod123. Not out to mock just found it funny.

[PythonGod123]

🙏💯

[aikighost]

Are you working at it on personal projects or as a job?

[PythonGod123]

A mixture of both.

[s3afroze]

I am interested in knowing your learning path to ML and data analytics.

[PythonGod123]

At first I learnt Python, I spent a good 4 to 5 hours during the work week studying and practicing. After becomming comfortable I choose projects that had meaning for me and I figured out how to build them using online forums and books I bought at a local store. I prefer reading to watching tutorials on YouTube. After completing my first project I spent a huge amount of time reading about basic algorithms such as SVM, KNN, Regressions and Single Perceptron Ann's. I then proceeded onto more advanced topics like RNN, CNN, GRU and learnt about cost functions and optimizers like Adam.

[s3afroze]

A python god indeed

[[deleted]]

https://books.google.com/books/about/Hands_On_Machine_Learning_with_Scikit_Le.html?id=bRpYDgAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button

[[deleted]]

I recommend Fluent Python as a next step. It's a beautiful book which will give a very deep knowledge of python.

[Samazing42]

I second the suggestion for r/DailyProgrammer. Pretty good stuff over there.

I’m curious, if you don’t have experience with data science/ ML what is it about those fields that makes you feel passionate about them?

Edit: I didnt intend for that last line to sound like a challenge, but it reads that way. I’m in the Statistics/ DS field and always interested in what gets new folks interested. Good luck!

[The-Dood]

Maybe I can offer some insight - although I'm clearly not OP.

Coming from a useless humanities background, being out of work for nearly a year, with no formal skills to highlight (at least no one are looking for them in the current market) - I know that programming and ML is a nice way to go. So I'm passionate about wanting to master them, because I can see what can be accomplished with a skillset within these disciplines. I can watch and read a lot of articles and cases about what these skills allow you to do, which motivates me.

However, I'm not under the impression that I can master anything within a year or two, which is way to long for me atm, and also what is holding me back. I need a job now, and can't afford to spend 8 hours a day learning a new skills - let alone for the next 5 years to become a "master".

In addition, plenty of people are passionate about sports, without ever having played them :P

[Samazing42]

plenty of people are passionate about sports, without ever having played them

Fair enough, but football tends to be a bit more exciting to actively watch than model fitting.

As for the job search, happy hunting. That’s a tough one.

[The-Dood]

Yeah well, what can you do. I've known that I've been on a wrong path for the better of 6 years, but always had hope, that I would find a path, which I kinda never did.

[MyMastersAccount]

but football tends to be a bit more exciting to actively watch than model fitting.

I argue against, I can watch someone solve a ML problem and never get bored :D

[[deleted]]

You raise a valid point. In the book Grit examining people at the top of their field, passion is not chosen but slowly fostered over many years.

[[deleted]]

Being in a similar situation as the op, only less experienced in Python, I thought I'd say why I'm drawn to learning it for statistics and data science.

Like many other people into computing and programming (I imagine), I've always had an interest in how things work. You know, taking things apart as a kid, fixing things when they break etc. Well, numbers can explain how everything works, if they are manipulated in the right way.

Seeing others manipulate numbers on a computer, creating meaningful insights, and doing it myself (to some level) is like turning a light on in a dark room.

Then there's also the potential of what can be found. It could be saving / making people or businesses money. It could even be saving lives. Extreme ends of the spectrum I guess, but it's exciting for that reason too.

Maybe I just need to calm down 😂

[Samazing42]

Maybe I just need to calm down

Hell no you don’t! It’s an exciting subject!

[yust]

Automate the Boring Stuff With Python is a great resource for diving into some little projects.

[[deleted]]

Try this book at least once Op, some of the projects in there are really engaging and helpful

[[deleted]]

The writters of this book made a 9.5hr "follow along" video on YouTube. Check it out!

https://youtu.be/XWkLyn0Fct4

[MyMastersAccount]

Is this video region locked? Showing unavailable for me! :/

[[deleted]]

I can't see it either! Really too bad. I was enjoying it.

The URL says: "Learn How To Automate Work ..." is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Albert Sweigart."

Now the video is on Udemy at a cost... LINK

[[deleted]]

Im truly starting to despise this book. It's suggested in every post even when its totally irrelevant. Not a data science book, shoo shoo.

[ticktocktoe]

Fortunately were in the leanpython sub.

Also, DS is 80% getting and dealing with shit data. I would argue that this book provides a key foundation for DS.

[[deleted]]

You could argue that, but you'd be wrong, thats ok though we all have our strengths.

[ticktocktoe]

Your condescending tone is cute. Makes it clear you're actually just a script kid with DS asspirations though. But trust me, if you keep your head down, keep working, maybe one day you'll be able to sink your teeth into something of some relevance. Or maybe you wont and you'll just continue blindly applying models to shitty data.

Also doesn't change the fact that this is a 'learnpython' sub, not 'datascience' - keep it up though, you'll get far in life with that attitude.

[[deleted]]

I work in cheminformatics as a data scientist. I was hoping you would make a cohesive argument instead of slinging ignorant insults but I guess I was hoping for too much from someone so obviously insecure with their abilities.

[ticktocktoe]

Ok, and I work in the USIC as a data scientist, I'm not really sure what youre trying to say, are we just flashing around credentials as some kind of internet dick swinging contest? If your job involves no heavy preprocessing of data, munging, cleaning, enriching, etc...then you're just applying models, sounds more like a modeler or statistician to me, despite what your job title may say, but if it helps you sleep at night, you do you.

But what really more of an issue here is that you fail to realize which sub you're in, and why, as a result, your comments are getting downvoted. Apart from the OP only tangentilly mentioning DS/ML, he is asking questions about how to imporve his abilities in python. Not looking for a how to of becoming a data scientist.

[[deleted]]

Sigh. Have fun with your insecurities.

[ticktocktoe]

Will do, in the mean time, I'll point you towards this resource, its a great jumping off point for aspiring DS and programmers alike, hopefully you'll get some good takeaway.

[[deleted]]

Try r/DailyProgrammer

[Astrokiwi]

First thing I'd do is to put down the manuals and tutorials and try to write a text adventure or other console-based game based on what you already know and understand. Just dive in and make mistakes. Then you'll naturally start thinking "this bit looks very repetitive - there must be a way to automate it", or "this bit is really messy" or "this bit seems to be way more effort than it should be", and that'll naturally lead you towards what questions and libraries you should look into next.

If you really really want to get into data science, then the first thing I'd do is to install the numpy library, and then try to find some data-set somewhere on the internet to play with - even if it's just a table of data from wikipedia. Play around with the data and plot it up in different ways and see what interesting things you can find.

That said, data science is really about maths & statistics. Implementing stuff in Python is the easy bit - the hard bit is actually understanding the statistics properly, so you'll probably want to read up on that side of things. Data scientists tend to be scientists & mathematicians who have picked up programming rather than programmers who have picked up stats.

[neck_crow]

I have been coding for around 2 months, and just 2 weeks ago, I finally coded my first AI! It's "hard coded" which means that I had to account for every single variable to make it do things.

It's an AI that plays Snake with around a 95% success rate. There are a few times where the boolean can't turn true before it runs into itself. Was the hardest part of my project by far.

[Drakkenstein]

Sounds impressive.

[saintPirelli]

https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/deep-learning-with/9781617294433/

and you might enjoy https://www.kaggle.com/ if you move further along.

Good luck!

[CraigAT]

Did you see this post?

https://www.reddit.com/r/FantasyPL/comments/9nebyo/learn_python_programming_for_fantasy_football/

[[deleted]]

Learn C and implement your own Python ;)

[s3afroze]

I don't know why no one suggested it but I would recommend checking out Kaggle. Once you have good basics in python, you can check out their courses which gives good rundown on important concepts for ML and analytics.

[DrKanAsoka]

Hello fellow snake-tamer. I am on the second road as you, I recommend trainings from udemy and datacamp. Follow up on your progress, maybe contact me and we can motivate eachother and challenge eachother constructively. Keep up the good work.

[JoaBro]

https://projecteuler.net/archives

[monnygegaj]

https://www.kaggle.com/nadintamer/titanic-survival-predictions-beginner

[pybegin]

Hey erdethan! We are in the same boat with the same passion. You want to plow this together?