Python coding

Anyone experienced using python? How did you learn? I’m thinking about learning it to supplements my skill set and resume to set myself more apart.

Find a well-reviewed book and work your way through it. Should be a book with lots of examples and a good reference you can go back to once you start writing your own code. I’ve done this to learn C using C Primer Plus by Stephen Prata.

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I feel like a book is a bit old school, do you think it’s really the best way to learn coding. Surely there are some online programs to follow on your screen? What do you think?

Yes you can find online courses. Check out Coursera.org. I guess I’m old school tho. I like the pace and comfort of having something solid in front of me that is smarter than me, and try to soak it up. A book does that for me.

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It’s ridiculously easy to learn self-taught, until you get into the advanced arcane features, which may not even be worth using.

All you need is on the Web for free, accessible via search engines.

I know a ten year old girl who’s learning Python.

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Beware of Python 2 vs Python 3. The two are more different than they ought to be, and that causes confusion.

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If you’re gonna buy a book make sure it’s updated (3e or later). It might be out of date already.

I don’t use books. I just look online for how to do a task.

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I’m a hack.

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Books are solid baseline references with sources and intentions that never change. Try that with your fancy internet, whippersnappers. :grandpa:

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This is how books go out of date.

I’m jaded from books. There’s just too many bullshit books with rave reviews out there, as if people reviewing those books have already mastered the content and just use the books to refresh their memory.

At any rate, I’m a fan of those kind of interactive tutorials:

Also, keep in mind that Python is easily mastered, but it’s what you do with it that matters. If you want to make a difference on your CV, build a few projects using Python and mention these.

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I used to buy tech books. They kept going out of date. And the Internet always had what I needed. Tech books are obsolete.

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(Except for TAOCP by Knuth, and more or less anything written by Kernigan)

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Plauger said all that needed saying about the art. But C is a language that needs to be taken out back and shot.

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I actually like C, but I can write more reliable code in assembler. C seems almost designed to create bugs.

As regards Python, i would suggest first getting a good book on the philosophy and practice of software engineering (and Knuth as mentioned). Anything written around 1979 would probably be a good choice. Far too many fashionable methodologies popping up lately.

R and Python are based on C.

Only in the sense that English is based on Latin.

Huh?

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