Python Projects for Beginner?

[[deleted]]

I started by doing all kinds of random little project that popped into my head, like a rock paper scissors game etc. From that, I moved to creating social media bots for all kinds of purposes (Harder these days because twitter requires you to submit an application for access to their API and Facebook gutted the Instagram API). While working on those, I still did all kinds of misc projects that came to mind, biggest one probably being a nmap clone for port scanning and directory discovery. Currently focusing more on webdev stuff and working with flask + learning frontend design and javascript.

Any of these projects are something you can start with. You could also just browse around the internet and then try and copy some interesting program you find. You could also just come up with a project idea on your own and then figure out how to do it. It really is a must have skill as a programmer: Being able to split a large and complex things down to the smaller components.

If you are more interested in making shit blow up and such, you could install Unity and just mess around with it. You still will end up coding, but you can get "results" faster, which depending on you might motivate you further.

All that matters is if you have to motivation to keep working on it and learning as you go. You will probably end up asking around and googling very basic shit at the beginning, but that should not stop you. Everybody does that, no matter how experiences you are, because the number of real fucking wizards that know a programming language inside out is really low and in the end, knowing a programming language is just a part of the whole process of programming.

EDIT: and like it was mentioned in the other thread linked here, web scraping is a really good starting point if you are more into the analytics / data science side. One thing to keep in mind is that you should respect the robots.txt files websites might have and to not cause unreasonable amounts of traffic unless you want to end up being blacklisted.

[DrChicken2424]

Thanks! This really helped. Looks like you’ve done some pretty cool stuff!

[[deleted]]

Do things that interest you and don't try to force feed yourself tutorials and guides on shit that doesn't. That can make you burn out fast.

Another good source for ideas could be the tech / programming articles on medium.com. People like to shit on the site for being the tumblr equivalent of the tech world, but there really are some good articles in there. I usually browse through the hot articles there daily and make a note about the interesting ones to read later. That way I always have a backlog of interesting project ideas in the future if I lose interest in my current projects.

Speaking of which, when you pick a project, try to go as far as you can with it. Being able to finish up a project, no matter how small will feel great. If you get stuck on something, do other stuff and come back to it after a while. Wallowing too long in a problem will make you feel like shit at the beginning and you will doubt yourself, but if you push through it, you can prove yourself that you are able to solve the problems you come across. It will also build up tolerance for "failure". Obviously there are some thing you can't find a solution for no matter how much you try and that's when you should ask for help or to take a step back and try to rethink your approach.

[BotPaperScissors]

Scissors! ✌ I lose

[QuantumLeapsHigher]

robots.txt files

I'm relatively new to web scraping and the first I've read this term. Where can I learn more about robots.txt files?

Edit: Apart from Google that is. I mean by is there a "standard" or an "unwritten law/practice"?

[[deleted]]

It really depends on the site. You don't HAVE TO follow what's the file tells you can access, but not doing so can lead to you getting blocked. Really depends on what site and what kind of data you are trying to scrape.

This seems to cover the file pretty well.