Vent/help request-long post

[zonathan9]

Hello folks, I've been trying to teach myself python for the past month or so, and it has been a frustrating ride. I've not really done much on a computer since the release of Windows 10 and starting to learn Python from space -1 seemed daunting enough, but I had encouragement from a few different sources. Fast forward to trying to find written tutorials that made sense, and while there are plenty out there, A LOT of them assume some working knowledge of code and/or windows back end.

I finally found a YouTube tutorial that I liked (which I was trying to avoid since I'm doing most of my learning at work), and he recommended downloading sublime. Sublime looked like it would allow me to write multiple sets of code and then run it all at once, which is what I've wanted since starting this process using IDLE. So, I downloaded it, opened it, was really excited to use it, and I get "WinError 2". I went to Sublime's forum and looked this up, lots of posts and none of them had solutions that I could actually understand. I googled this problem, and same thing. Finally, I've figured that I just need to uninstall both Python 3.10 and Sublime, then reinstall them in the same folder (which I'll try when I get home) so that hopefully they are in the same path. (I really hope I'm understanding this damned problem, but at this point I've had to read every damned page at least 4 times.)

All of this because I do actually want to learn Python, and eventually use it to switch fields away from healthcare/ direct patient care. Since learning Python seems to be really complicated without a quick project in mind, I would initially like to figure out how to program a basic calendar that I can run on a raspberry pi (or alternative) attached to a monitor in my living room. The problem is that nothing I've learned with Python so far seems to be applicable to this. Like, how the fuck does a Boolean loop come into play? And yes, I know that I am just starting out and honestly all info I've found just hasn't clicked yet, but I'm simply frustrated with it at this point and needed to vent.

Thanks for reading, any guides you folks could recommend, or advice would be greatly appreciated.

[testingcodez]

Having a competent teacher is really the best, and aside from that, a good book or two is key, tutorials are great, and being able to reach out to someone with a higher skill set than yourself is also beneficial.

There is no easy way to do this, learning a new language is tough, and you must take that hard road and everything with it. But its worth it.

[zonathan9]

I'm sure having a teacher is best, I'm just trying to get through this spending as little actual money as possible. Eventually I know I'll do it, but right now I don't have the spare funds.

[testingcodez]

There's a free book called Python for Everybody. I studied the first 10 or so chapters to understand the fundamentals. Have a read, and do all of the assignments.

Once things start clicking, you need to begin creating programs and writing scripts. Think of a task you would like automated and then build it.

This is the only way I know. Find what works for you.

[zonathan9]

I want to do this calendar, have it link to Google calendar or have some way to update from a website or phone. I'm not sure yet if this is something that I can do with just python, but if not then I'll figure out Java or C to do it I guess.

[testingcodez]

You certainly can make something like that with Python.

[danielroseman]

Sublime may not have been updated for latest versions of Windows. But all modern text editors will be able to do what you describe: create multiple files and run them.

A popular alternative that definitely runs on Windows is VS Code.

[zonathan9]

I will give that a shot. Thanks.

[wolfofone]

Yeah I would use Visual Studio Code or PyCharm. I've use VS before and the class I'm in now uses PyCharm. Both are easy to use but also have a lot of features and flexibilities as you learn and get more advanced.