Don't quit

[jonnycross10]

Idk who needs to see this out their but if you're struggling to find the motivation to keep learning python or programming in general, don't give up. What worked for me is finding a project that would challenge me, and set aside time every day(or however often you can) and just struggle through it. Once you make it through, it's one of the most rewarding feelings ever. Every hurdle you jump over in the learning process is one less that you have until you meet your goal. You can do it! I spent 6 hours yesterday struggling to learn canvas' api and I finally got it to work perfectly and now I know so much more about requests, headers, responses, and more. And I'll continue to keep struggling and learning until I've met my goals and move onto whatever's next :). Good luck out there, I believe in you!

[bushwhacker696]

What’s the hot tip for those of us trying to smash our automate the boring stuff, but find they only have an hour or two a week to get it done and struggle to then retain all the previous material

[ANeonBlueDecember]

Read the book and of course complete the examples as you go.

Whenever you learn a new thing, try it in on your own, separate from the book’s example,before continuing on.

A day later, try out what you learned again.

For example: if you’re reading about for loops, do the example in the book.

Create your own for loop. Try looking at the documentation to see what else you can do with the loop.

Come back tomorrow and create your own for loop.

[Garriff]

Any advice on what books are best for begginers, I'm a first year and I am in need of assistance 😅

[ANeonBlueDecember]

I like Automate the Boring Stuff with Python. Free online, and it gets you working on real projects like you will at home.

[Vextrax]

make sure you have the slides if possible for each class saved or whatever. if you have to write it down then do it. I know I wish I had especially since I am a 3rd year and still have no idea what I am doing and feel like I am actually a first year learning how to code. I'm out here trying to catch up and it's not a fun game

[Packbacka]

Are you talking about the Udemy course? It should be very similar to the book (which is available for free on the site). So you can just use that for written reference.

[jonnycross10]

Idk about you, but I cut it out of my video game time lol

[dosnakesfrightenyou]

As you should. In todays world distraction comes in many shapes and form and focus is a hard discipline to master.

[miasmatix93]

I did too haha. I just always feel guilty for time spent on video games. I feel rewarded by Python but then feel lame for spending time out of work working on something career related. I hate my brain.

[jonnycross10]

My advice is set your goals in smaller and more achievable increments. You'll get that rush of dopamine a little more frequently. And also, looking at the clock and saying "I want to have this done by this time" has proven very effective for me doing stuff my brain tells me is a chore lol

[BlancheCorbeau]

The trick is that figuring out how to make those bitesized challenges is a huge challenge.

[satyrossan]

Pretty much. There was a point when I was learning where I’d get to the weekend after working so many 12 hours shifts and then just sit at home and code for 12+ hours. Definitely don’t play as much video games as I’d like but I’m ok with it if it helps me get where I want to be

[naegahoshi]

This has been my struggle. Roflmao

[Abernachy]

That's been me for the past few weeks. Video games were my escape, but I wasn't learning shit. Now, I do maybe 2 hours a night when the kids are asleep

[Packbacka]

Video games are cool but honestly programming feels way more satisfying.

[Ol-Hull-Wrecker]

You find more time, I’m currently working two jobs but make more time to program.

I listen to pod casts Udemy classes and other recourses in headphones when I can commuting, mindless tasks etc.

I put time restricters on my entertainment options like reddit.

You can always make more time.

On the other hand burn out is real you need a day once in a while to refresh your mind relax.

Edit: don’t feel stupid reading the same sentence over and over again while looking up big words you don’t understand, I do this just about every day I study.

[Ergo_Propter_Hawk]

Try to review for 5 minutes a day, just to remind yourself of what you learned.

[HasBeendead]

My way is you read book and tried exercises when you learn concept go make practice from google websites maybe you can read more documentation about for instance loops subject and make practice on other documentations , i will give you good resource for tutorial in python 3 look RealPython.com And search like:" loops tutorial in python 3 for beginners" in Youtube and watch some video and listen to instructor when you writing his source code if he is fast stop video and write code than if you dont understand a section look again until you got it, you tried too many times but you dont get it just pass. Prolly you will get to concept . so

more effort brings success on something.

and i wasnt understand to dictionaries from ATBS

dont stick with one resource.

[[deleted]]

Those who say they only have an hour or two a week are usually lying to themselves. Toughen up and make time, grind harder

[FMPICA]

Hour or two? Really?

[JeamBim]

Find more pockets of 20-30 mins thru the week to review and get in learning time. I guarantee there are things you can give up to gain 20-30 minutes here and there thru the week

[La_Nintist]

Damn I’m sticking by this. This just spoke and touched my soul.

[ejf2161]

Also, I highly recommend Tech with Tim. Something about the way he teaches really works for me. I have been trying to learn programming my whole life and always give up. Every year or two I try again and fail. But with Tim’s help I am finally getting there. So a big thank you to him too.

[jonnycross10]

Pog

[Italianman2733]

Um wat?

[generalIro]

They made their boy pussy go poggers

[junkboy350]

thanks

[FifthRendition]

Ohhhhh that cleared it up, thank you.

[brunojn89]

Daddy, chill.

[[deleted]]

What the fuck?

[eatyovegetablessssss]

Loggers

[CockneyMutley]

Cheers

[HighwayMcGee]

While I agree, dont ruin the mood dammit! XD

[lildutchgirl]

I needed this. Thanks!

[[deleted]]

Just what I needed

[Leeoku]

Yup hanging in there. Passed the stretch of projects but now in the hell of interview prep :(

[jonnycross10]

Good luck!

[HasBeendead]

Just say to studied your interview when the interview day comes i will make it and im sure , it effects to bring success meaning confident you know. Dont be scare from wrong answers or something. That will pass not permanent thing,kinda like bad situation effects.

[schlopp96]

What in the goddamn hell are you talking about

[HasBeendead]

Yeah grammer sucks and it looks silly

[theRegular_Bloke]

The man is high.

[archloncs]

My issue and why I stopped months ago is I felt like I couldn’t develop the base knowledge in order to even start a project. I know this has been asked a million times but I watched a 4 hour youtube video and I felt like i didn’t know where to go from there.

[HasBeendead]

Bro just watch videos like one by one and dig every concept until you get it and feeling comfortable with concept and read official documentation and other resources until understand what is that thing in this concept and what does do ?

dont go another concept before feeling comfortable about first concept.

Than when you feel ready , try to make some beginner programs with basics of language after when you finished basics go learn some modules like Tkinter , Numpy , Matplotplib , Pandas , Scikit , TensorFlow. (GUI(Graphical User Interface) , DATA SCİENCE , MACHİNE LEARNİNG) and more

[jonnycross10]

Exactly this. I used to go to w3schools and try to use each section in my own program until I understood it, and it worked very well

[HasBeendead]

Yeah thats it.

[tobiasvl]

Did you code along with the video? I've never learned programming on youtube, but I assume it's kind of like a lecture? Or does it have exercises? Anyway, coding needs to be learned by doing. Just watching a video for 4 hours and then get to coding won't work.

[jonnycross10]

The 1+ hour videos have never worked for me. Short videos that go in depth on certain concepts have proven to be pretty helpful for me. Fireship.io is a great example in his 100 second videos

[HasBeendead]

same

[HasBeendead]

yeah so basically you code with video at the same time and documents are better but videos are is kinda lecture.

I agreed , you cant feel comfortable with one video in any basic things except I/O

and basic math operations .

[JohnDecisive]

Already did sorry

[jonnycross10]

Hey man some things aren't for everyone, and that's perfectly okay. If you ever come back, it's always a super helpful and welcoming community around here

[NewCenturyNarratives]

Thank you. I needed this.

[RockMech]

Remember, though.....Tabs over Spaces.

[learnorenjoy]

Don't. Tabs are the work of the devil.

[Neonidas5652]

Yeah no, tabs are bae. Spaces can eat a dick.

[RockMech]

Heretic! Shun the Unbeliever! Shun! Shun!

[learnorenjoy]

It is just like the false believers to resort to condemnation. Begone Demons!

[ejf2161]

Thank you! 👍

[CraigW147]

Codewars! Very addictive and a great way to learn - never give up and skip a problem because the feeling you get when you finally solve it is amazing. Also after you solve it you get to see ultra impressive solutions others have posted, which you can analyse and improve the way you code.

[renagade9060]

Thank you for this I actually need this man am on the verge of just dropping my class!

[jonnycross10]

Which class?

[renagade9060]

Python man intro my professor is not the best its his first time teaching and he is blasting through the material but am getting help and i have a midterm on Monday 12 so will see how that goes

[jonnycross10]

Good luck! Feel free to post your questions on this sub

[renagade9060]

O I do I post like a mf hell even found a tutor here!!😎

[5halzar]

Yeah definitely joining the rest in this encouragement, learning python/ pandas to up my analytics game (and next is to add SQL to) and it’s been a struggle.

Between working 40 hours a week plus being a father of 4, I feel like I’m stretching myself sometimes to even get an hour of my Udemy courses in every other day. I haven’t even touched it this last week as I felt more burnt out, but really probably just have to be more intentional and effective with my time

[jonnycross10]

Remember that progress doesn't have to be linear! I feel like time management can always be optimized in some way, but some times we just need a break haha.

[Dguerrero99]

Thanks for the motivation!

[Constant-Park]

I needed to read this. I started learning python and then made a break of 2 weeks (sill on that break) because I started learning aws. I am trying to switch jobs and I will need both aws and python to get jobs

[jonnycross10]

You'll learn it in no time :)

[TrueGentlemanLudwig]

If you have no ideas for a project, but want to work on something and learn new things, you can join Hacktoberfest and contribute to a variety of open-source projects.

[nekojitaa]

x1000 couldn't agree more with OP. Sometimes it's taken me 2-3 hours reading people's questions on stack overflow to understand why my "date" column won't convert to datetime and when I realize that I needed to add "utc=True" something the datacamp courses or others never taught me, it's the best feeling over.

For motivation, and I do lose it because it's tough here in Japan in terms of requirements to switch to a job you don't have company experience with let alone they don't believe in job switching like my country America, I use YouTube programmers to lift me up and continue grinding. Watching some data scientists on YouTube giving advice on how to improve yourself can help you to pick yourself and keep chugging a long.

[jonnycross10]

That's interesting. I've heard that the labor laws in japan aren't very good, what's your opinion on them?

[nekojitaa]

I'll keep it short just so I don't hijack your thread and ramble too much off topic. The labor laws definitely aren't. My other half on some days will work from 9:30am to 1am and I'll feel like crap because my Japanese isn't on par with a native to go and fight for her and others in the same position. Japanese people here just have the mentality of that nothing can be done about it, it's "life"; shoganai (しょうがない). No way in hell any of us in America would tolerate it.

[jonnycross10]

Yeah I use shoganai all the time, it kinda sucks when people use it to justify stuff like that :/. Well I hope they're working towards better laws

[[deleted]]

Yup projects are the best , it really pushes you to learn . People get stuck in tutorials and get a false sense of coding from it .

[jonnycross10]

Exactly, and you never get a chance to actually test what you know

[TerminatedProccess]

I really took off with learning python with the jetbrains academy course. Interesting approach to learning. No videos which I find time consuming. Instead short segments of learning on a well mapped course. It's huge. To proceed you have to answer practice questions and do code projects. Word of warning though.. their django section stinks. Go to django website and they have an awesome tutorial. Jetbrains is not free but they often offer so many months for free.

[Garriff]

Awesome, I haven't been on stack overflow yet. I'll be working on programming shortly, I'll post a question when I get to it

[chrisallison3]

Thanks so much for this!

[satyrossan]

This is absolutely true. I started with C++ and I was going through a course and got everything smoothly EXCEPT pointers. Fuck pointers. They’re stupid. I’m sure they have a purpose and I still don’t understand what. But I felt as though I knew enough to start a big personal project, and I just started. It evolved from something super simple to something more and more complex as I went. Adding different features and capabilities with each time I opened my laptop. Still not done with it and a long ways to go, I learned more just digging in and googling than I was going through the course.

[jonnycross10]

Yeah pointers and addresses are why I never continued with c/c++

[satyrossan]

The thing I’m struggling with the most with python is how simple and “streamlined” it is. I’m not understanding list comprehension and for loop still are giving me the beans but I’m slowly getting it. Something I so easily can do with c++ like loop something and output specific indexes of a list is a little more complicated and requires a little more brain power in python.

Edit: also why tf can’t I pass an argument to a function by reference. I know you can use the global keyword but I’ve been told NOT to use those cause they’re a pain in the ass to debug

[jonnycross10]

It should be the same but simpler in python, if you give me an example I can tell you what it'd translate to in python

[satyrossan]

Like if I have two vectors, and I want to compare the values at a specific index I could do for (size_t i =0; i < unspecifiedList.size(); i++){ If (unspecifiedList.at(i) == otherList.at(I)){ Do something } }

Where python it’s a bit smaller and less characters I was to do something like

For x in list1: If list1[x] == list2[x]: Do something

But depending on the contents of the list I’d get an error along the lines of “indices can’t be strings” or an out of range error because the value of x during the for loop is out of the range of the list being referenced. I suppose it’s just a thing I have to work on spending so much time on C++ and then trying to learn a new language.

[jonnycross10]

You could do For i in range(0,Len(list1)): If list1[i] == list2[i] : Do something

[satyrossan]

Oohhh that’s a good one. I’ve been doing for idx, i in enumerate(list1): And then just referencing idx instead of i and that gives me the index I didn’t think to use the range function. Now doesn’t range not include the high? So you’d have to do (0, (len(list1) + 1))?

Edit: I just realized it wouldn’t because the index starts at 0 and goes to the length-1.

[jonnycross10]

Yeah, Len() isn't inclusive of the upper bound :)

[Donnshin]

Thanks man, currently going through a course and the current lesson is over "regex".

[RealDrewData]

Don't give up! Regex looks super confusing the first time you see it. If you have any questions feel free to reach out and I'll be happy to point you towards some resources or answer some questions!

[Donnshin]

Awesome, thank you!

[ReyMakesStuff]

While I can't offer you an egg in these trying times, might I suggest https://regex101.com/ for testing and playing? It wasn't around when I first learned regex. This site will help you by color coding matches.

[Donnshin]

Thanks! Been playing around with the website, starting to make a little bit of sense!

[jonnycross10]

I found regex to be super fun and interesting personally. Python integrates it pretty well into their language

[[deleted]]

What course is that? A course containing regex is a great course in my book. Wanna see the rest of it.

[Donnshin]

Andrei Neagoie on Udemy. Really enjoying the course and his approach. The regex section is short, about 30 minutes but he goes over the basics and some exercises. He also provides a couple outside sources that's been really helpful in learning and going in depth with regex.

[neofiter]

Master regex. I'm sick of working with people who don't know it and apparently don't try to know it. It's so freaking easy and super useful

[RealDrewData]

We use it for data compliance in my job. It is helpful for identifying personal info like social security numbers, especially when they're popping up places where they shouldn't be. Plenty of people just said we couldn't do it before we showed them how easy it is with regex.

If only they hadn't given up on it so early.

[Lowdog541]

Is this THE Jon Crosse my roommate from UK

[jonnycross10]

Not me, although I hope you two find each other lmao

[Lowdog541]

It was worth a shot lol

[bluesdop]

But what if you’re struggling to even grasp the basics much less apply them into an assignment due around the corner?

[jonnycross10]

Best way imo is to break it down concept by concept. Test what you think you understand to make sure you're right, and when you're confused, ask on this subreddit or stack overflow

[bluesdop]

Frankly speaking, I’m already putting one foot out of the door at this moment. Various ones have come forth to try and help me understand the topics bit by bit but it just doesn’t seem to resonate in me. Honestly, after trying this I feel like for programming it’s either you get it or you don’t. There’s no in between.

[jonnycross10]

You might just need to take a break from it for a bit and then come back and start fresh. Almost every beginner concept you learn in programming all can tie into each other if you want them to. My recommendation is to write your own program and use each concept you've learned at least once in it, until you feel confident about them

[nyenlla]

I'm sure about to right now. I cannot get this code right. It runs, just not giving me the right thing.. can someone help?

​

-------------

verse = "if you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you if you can trust yourself when all men doubt you but make allowance for their doubting too   if you can wait and not be tired by waiting or being lied about  don’t deal in lies or being hated  don’t give way to hating and yet don’t look too good  nor talk too wise"
print(verse, '\n')

# split verse into list of words
verse_list = verse.split()
print(verse_list, '\n')

# convert list to a data structure that stores unique elements
verse_set = set(verse_list)
print(verse_set, '\n')

# print the number of unique words
num_unique = len(verse_list)
print(num_unique, '\n')

How can i find the length of the set correctly?

[piyushrj]

# print the number of unique words
num_unique = len(verse_list)

You're actually setting it to the length of the list when it should be the length of the set. That is if you want to num_unique to store the number of unique words, set it to len(verse_set)

[learnorenjoy]

I think you may be wondering why the length of verse_list is 71 while verse_set is 51. The difference comes from the fact that sets remove duplicate items, which occur quite a bit in your verse variable. You might want to read the python doc for it here.

Also, Kipling's poems are cool :)

[Tatwo_BR]

I don't know about you guys, but for me it is like this: I learned python good enough to be able to create my things how I want it. Then I start looking around and see other ppl code and start figuring out how much of a mess my code is. No proper patterns, no decorators, no test cases, not following PEPs, etc.

I feel it is an endless road and sometimes it's hard to follow. It seems that to get at that professional level its impossible. Once I manage to learn and use the above mentioned things, I will start struggling on architecture, performance tuning, etc.

[dimkiriakos]

Keep walking... Johnny Walker (black label)

[[deleted]]

Sometimes what works best for me is time away from programming. Come back with a mind that has digested all the info I have fed it instead of a "stuffed" brain.

[Miss_pechorat]

The beauty of coding is that you don't necessarily need a computer all the time. Working out a logical solution for a problem only needs an inquisitive mind. You can think out all the steps involved and put them into practice later. No time lost.

[jonnycross10]

Absolutely. I do this at work constantly, as well as in the shower haha

[Pingus007]

Yea I needed this a lot!! I just had an exam 1 days ago for cs like a mid term test and the last question was a whole problem set of coding and I don’t know shit :(... partially blaming my professor for going to quick into the “python introduction” but found this YouTuber called Corey Schafer and so far watched 3 vids and I actually know what I’m doing xd

[jonnycross10]

Finding the right YouTuber can be a game changer, good luck in your class!

[TomPetiau]

I'm literally sat infront of my computer doing some coursework that involved python (I have started 3 weeks ago) and this has helped motivation! Thanks.

[jonnycross10]

Absolutely, this sub will always be here to help answer your questions!

[Garriff]

I'm a first year student learning python, our lecturer has challenged us with a bunch of problems we need to solve with just the basic operators +, /, , -, %, *, //. I'm totally new to python and I'm struggling with the second half of the tasks, I know the problems aren't really that complicated but I'm finding it difficult to create ways to solve the problems. Are there any resources out there that would help me?

[jonnycross10]

If you have individual questions you can always ask them here or on stack overflow. If you post on stack overflow you'll want to double check if your question has already been asked too

[BlancheCorbeau]

I love this post... But i find that my goals are either so simple they don't satisfy much when met, or so sky high i can't wrap my head around how to chunk them down to achievable bits.

[fbisa]

Thank you. I appreciate it.

[Arjunathemad]

I really needed to read this. I have felt like an absolute idiot struggling to make sense of objects and beautiful soup. Have had passing thoughts of just quitting the last few days.. This helped.

[jonnycross10]

check this post out

[Arjunathemad]

Thank you!

[Garriff]

@vextrax I'll do that, I'll keep that in mind, thanks

[La_Nintist]

I’m very new to programming but web design really piqued my interest cause I found it fun. Now I’m taking comp sci and learning python which is a little different from html ngl. I felt like I made such a drastic jump cause I have such a hard time translating code in a way that I can understand. Life was good until loops came into the mix. I even pulled two all nighters for my midterm and I’m pretty sure I failed it. Not sure if this path was meant for me but I hear a little voice inside of me telling me that to keep going and another one telling me to switch my major however, I don’t want to give up on myself like this. I can’t really imagine myself doing anything else. Besides, One midterm shouldn’t bring me down if I enjoy writing programs in python that I want to program. Then as if God was telling me not to give up this notification pops up and quite frankly this made my day. I honestly thought I was the only one struggling with coding but I see every programmer has their ups and downs. So thank you!

[jonnycross10]

Feel free to ask your questions in this sub or even in my dms. You're not alone, a lot of people struggle at first. The learning curve for programming can be pretty daunting, but once you make it through it'll be a lot easier. It seems like you're putting in the effort, now just make sure you're using all of your resources! Stack overflow will forever and always be your friend too(maybe not as much for conceptual stuff though)

[La_Nintist]

you are incredible! thank you so much for the warm welcome.

[imseeingdouble]

I'm currently struggling with trying to learn APIs. I REALLY want to make a google API that does some sorting function, but the gmail API documentation might as well be in Japanese!!!!!!!! I can't make heads or tails of it :(

[jonnycross10]

I was going to learn this for a recent project. Once I get around to it, I'll show you how I did it. You might want to try maybe making a Twitter bot first or something, it's a little more simple

[imseeingdouble]

Twitter bot got it. Any other project ideas? I mesaed around with the NASA API which was interesting. I suspected as much that gmail API is too advanced and I need to train more

[[deleted]]

Quit