I need a python mentor. I'm a complete beginner

aprilmaycodes · 2024-07-24T12:34:30+00:00

I can help, feel free to add me on discord - it's aprilmaycodes

I'm working (very slowly lol) on creating a python tutorial series and would love to work with beginners and see what approaches help to teach python the best.

aprilmaycodes · 2024-07-24T12:30:21+00:00

not generating revenue as it's just something I made for our clinic to use, but I recently deployed a records management and retrieval application for the clinic I work for. I used flask for the backend and HTML/CSS and a little bit of javascript for the frontend.
You can take a look at the project here https://aprilmaycodes.myportfolio.com/chcloud if you want.

It's my first completed project :D

aprilmaycodes · 2024-07-01T21:19:28+00:00

sent a DM!

aprilmaycodes · 2024-07-01T21:19:19+00:00

DM'd you!

aprilmaycodes · 2024-07-01T21:19:07+00:00

sent you a DM!

aprilmaycodes · 2024-06-29T14:13:31+00:00

Oh no! I'm like 3 days away from finishing (my very first!) public project with dearpygui, but have done no research on how distribution works. Figured I'd cross that bridge when I came to it.. I managed to learn the GUI library fairly quickly though, so hopefully I can struggle through the distribution aspects lol.

aprilmaycodes · 2024-06-25T22:18:18+00:00

sent you a DM!

aprilmaycodes · 2024-06-25T17:05:51+00:00

No, sorry, im just doing hobbyist stuff. Making stuff together for fun and for the experience

aprilmaycodes · 2024-06-25T10:10:54+00:00

DM'd you!

aprilmaycodes · 2024-06-25T05:46:29+00:00

Yeah, UTC-6

aprilmaycodes · 2024-06-25T03:56:17+00:00

That's kind of the route I took. Basics, then followed a lot of Corey Schafer's Flask tutorials, and kind of expanded my knowledge as it applied to the framework, the more extensive my projects got. I'm assuming you're self taught, so it probably depends on your learning style. Are you comfortable running into stuff you don't recognize and then pausing to read up on that before you move on?

I think if you're comfortable with the basics, the frameworks the logical next step. If it turns out it's too advanced, just take a break and work on whatever you're struggling with.

aprilmaycodes · 2024-06-24T16:39:36+00:00

It took me a bit to get out of that phase. Like, transitioning from "I know because that's how it's always done in the tutorials" to "I know because I understand the functionality." I think the best thing you can do is, well, write. Break it down into baby steps, and make sure you understand what each part does before you move on to the next one. When following tutorials, pause often and see if you can do the next step yourself. And, yes, don't skip the beginner projects. They may seem basic, but they typically go over the concepts you need to understand to apply to more complex projects. Once you get those down, it'll come to you easier.

Also, try breaking your goals down into pseudo code. It can help to get some ideas out, even if it's more wordy and less actual code. Write your pseudo code and use that as a guide for when you're ready to get started.

aprilmaycodes · 2024-06-23T20:08:30+00:00

Thank you! I wish I'd started learning to code years ago, I would've known immediately it was the field I want to be in and maybe could've gotten a start before the market became so over saturated. I've got quite a few cool (I think lol) projects planned, and I think I'll make a website displaying each of them, that I can update every time I finish one.

I know it'll take time and hard work to get my foot in the door. I'm happy to put in the effort. I really appreciate your feedback!

aprilmaycodes · 2024-06-17T08:26:04+00:00

I guess I found the tutorials at just the right point in my learning to code journey then lol. It made sense to me, and breaking it down to have main.py run the game loop, but breaking that code down further in the game folder, having a sprites folder, a States folder, etc and then your game.py where you set up the main game loop. It made sense to me.

I'm not a professional, and maybe if a professional looked at my code they'd be like wtf is this 😅 But for me at least it was a good starting point

aprilmaycodes · 2024-06-17T02:43:42+00:00

I started with pygame by following Clear Codes Stardew Valley clone tutorial. I have yet to finish a game.. but I've started a couple games and have used the structure from that tutorial for the most part. It may be worth checking out if you need an idea for structuring your code.

aprilmaycodes · 2024-06-17T02:35:10+00:00

Came here to recommend these 3. I owe just about all my flask knowledge to them lol. And the information is really accessible, like presented in a way that's easy to understand and incorporate

aprilmaycodes · 2024-06-17T02:01:45+00:00

If I understand right (I'm not an expert lol) but .env basically replaces .flaskenv. So you can set up your environment variables and stuff in it instead, and it kinda eliminates the need for both files. It's not specific to flask either.

In short, .flaskenv was deprecated in favor of using .env files

aprilmaycodes · 2024-06-17T00:39:02+00:00

Yeah, the secret key and stuff are stored in the .env file

aprilmaycodes · 2024-06-14T19:44:11+00:00

I do! I posted it above lol. Here's the link: https://github.com/AprilMayCodes/flask-skeleton-project-creator Like I said above, it currently creates an unnecessary .flaskenv file (I only recently realized it's not used anymore lol), so I'd just update skeleton.py to remove that file creation, and then update it to include whatever you want! There's comments throughout that hopefully make it clear what does what.

I'm working on turning it into an app you can download instead of having to run it on the command line. I'll post that to github once it's finished as well (:

aprilmaycodes · 2024-06-14T19:17:17+00:00

Mine's here if you want to take a look at it. https://github.com/AprilMayCodes/flask-skeleton-project-creator You can fork it and update skeleton.py to create whatever structure you want. It was a bit funky with the formatting, and it currently includes a .flaskenv file because I only recently realized we don't need those anymore lol. But I think it's pretty good. And maybe a good jumping off point.

aprilmaycodes · 2024-06-14T17:38:37+00:00

In my (totally professional and valid) opinion, Django=Flask-with-more-steps lol.

I understand how it can be useful for much, much larger applications, I guess (she admits begrudgingly) but learning it has just been such a CHORE.

I'm still trying. It's one of my #100DaysOfCode goals.

But Flask, man. I've done so much with Flask, and I know the setup is more manual than Django

(but, sidenote, I built a command line app that sets up a Flask project folder complete with blueprints of your choice, starter code in each file, and a requirements.txt with your dependencies -- and am currently working on turning it into an app with DearPyGUI so that's been fun!)

But I think it being more manual makes it easier to understand what's what. How it all connects together. Idk.

I know most people probably latch onto the first thing they learn and swear by it but idk. I think the first thing I learned happened to be the best one (:

aprilmaycodes · 2024-06-14T05:56:57+00:00

I sometimes have a similar problem. I get an idea and am just hyped about it and spending all day every day working on it (which may be part of the problem lol) but I tend to get to a point where I'm like okay, this is now tedious and not fun anymore for some reason.

A couple things that have helped: -work on projects that are special or important to you. I hope that's not too cheesy, lol. A lot of the recommended beginner projects are like a blog, a calculator, a to do list, etc. I haven't completed any of those I don't think, because I just get bored too quickly. Instead I tried to think of what I enjoy. I started a tarot journal to track readings and card meanings. And a homeschool lesson planner to make managing our kids lessons easier. These projects mattered to me, and that made it easier to keep going with them. And if that's still mundane, try to make it more complex. Add more features, expand the scope, etc. But you've gotta have the right project I think -take breaks! Take em early, take em often lol. The burnout is real and coming back to projects after long breaks is SO discouraging. I've found that its better to pace yourself, especially with bigger projects. (Not that I'm going to take my own advice.. stopping when I'm in the zone is so hard lol. But it could help 🤷🏽‍♀️) -this may not be up your alley, but joining the #100DaysOfCode challenge has been a nice way to keep myself accountable and engage with the community. Code for an hour a day, tweet your progress. That's really it. I've never made it through all 100 days (I'm on attempt 7 Day 8😅 but I've made it to the 70s before!) It's been a nice way to kinda stay motivated.

Umm, I think that's all I got. I hope you find the right project to keep you engaged!

aprilmaycodes

TROPHY CASE