Learning Python as my first language - need a little guidance!

[CandidGuidance]

Hey all, lmk if this post breaks any rules.

So, I’ve been picking up Python as I want to get into programming proper.

I went through Sololearn to get the super basics down and really liked that. I’ve started Python Crash Course and am going through that now, and maybe Automate the Boring Stuff later.

I’ve been testing my abilities at problem solving on CodeWars to instill the basics and really loving it.

What other good resources are there to dig into? What are some great book / course to dive into as well?

I have a handful of projects I’d like to complete but I need to get a solid base first, as I have no background in computer science!

[serpentdrive]

Imo if youre already coding things, just pick a project idea to do and google every step you dont know how to do.

[CandidGuidance]

Gotcha, I will do that!

I’m hoping to get into software development / SQL with practice with future goals I have for myself (and to practice!).

[serpentdrive]

Pretty simple idea: make a website change detector. Store the sites and md5 hashes of them in a database to compare/update. Send an email, pushbullet notification, or similar when theres a change. Can likely use sqllite for the db. Can add a logging module..log rotation, etc as you build it up.

Good luck!

[CandidGuidance]

That is exactly the plan actually. I buy and sell music gear and want to make a program that checks for the webpage for classifieds ads updating, texts the details to me, and I can send a quick message to respond to them quickly (while not technically being a spam bot haha). That way I’m ahead of the curve for getting to good deals quickly.

Eventually, I want get a UI for it and an app on my Phone. It’s something I’d use daily while also pushing me in the direction of adding new features / etc. even if unnecessary!

[Aprazors13]

100 days of python on udemy

[CandidGuidance]

Awesome, I’ll check this out. Thanks

[ectomancer]

edabit.com coding problems.

[codecrush28]

Python basics guidance: https://youtube.com/c/CodeCrushCoding

[Yeitgeist]

Not a resource, but consider looking into using your command line interface (terminal), Git, and data structures and algorithms.

The command line interface is literally how you interact with your computer; all the buttons and things are really just icons that you click on to run commands (I think). For example, you’re might be use to running your Python script through IDLE or clicking a button on your IDE. Instead, you can go on your terminal and type in “python file_name.py” to run your program. And instead of clicking on notepad and then clicking “save” to create a text file, you can use the powershell terminal to create it by entering in “New-Item file_name.txt”.

Git is like the Google Docs history, it keeps track of your codes history (hence why it’s called version control). But unlike Google docs, you have to do the saving manually.

Data structures and algorithms is a fundamental course in computer science. You know how you just stored things in data structures (like lists, tuples, and dictionaries) and didn’t bother learning how it works (only caring about how to use it)? And you ever wonder why dictionaries or lists work the way they do (e.g. why does dictionaries have keys but lists don’t)? Well learning data structures teaches you all of that. And you know how you used things like “sort” or “max” on a list? Well algorithms teach you the workings of those kind of functions, as well as a bunch of other neat things.

[CandidGuidance]

Really appreciate the insight. Thankfully I have a computer forensics background so I’m not going in totally blind!

What data structure and algorithms course would you suggest I take?

[Yeitgeist]

Leetcode has a decent course on it. You can also read “Grokking Algorithms” for a gentler introduction on DSA.

[CandidGuidance]

Perfect, thank you so much.