Hey all,

So this isn't a techie question but I would really appreciate views and guidance.

I have been trying to learn Python for over 2yrs now (very much on and off) but I keep coming back to it and picking up the books and watching the videos and buying training material. For some reason I tend to just get dead bored of the basic stuff and start to crack on with projects which I know are far too advanced for my knowledge in the field. This has happened time and time again and I end up getting to a point my new venture whereas I realise that I have totally overwhelmed myself and my head is lost in what direction I need to go. This can be as simple as "should I use a dictionary here or a tuple there?" or "I am writing all this code but I am sure there must be some module for this, but how do I find it? Where do I look?".

Again, simple stuff for you lot but at 43yrs old and been in the IT sys admin game for over 25yrs I am tired and just wish things would sink in already! Alas, my grey matter is fighting me daily and Python is becoming my nemesis. My Vadar!

Can someone please tell me how they managed to focus and get it all under their belt and understood the ways of the force that is 'Python'.

Thx for your time.

D

PS. I promise I won't build a death star with my new learnt knowledge

I wish I were 43 again.

Why Python? Why not another language if Python disagrees with you?

When I code in Python, I scavenge for code in my own archives and I *frequently* search the web, concentrating on StackOverflow results. It's so quick to add code like that and there's no need to actually remember anything.

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Hey I recommend installing SoloLearn on your smartphone. It's more basic courses but it's easier to keep up. I never used the social platform section of it but it might help.


Another great resource is the Sam's Teach Yourself books.

@hydrurga - I am sure you are no older than 21 and clubbing most weekends LOL! I decided or fixated on Python as it was the next progression in my line of work. It was either that or Ruby but the whole DevOps crap kinda favours Python and honestly I actually like it and I do enjoy learning it but as I said the damn thing just fights me.

I have so many interesting projects lined up but am so reluctant because I am scared I will lose faith again and again because I run into so many brick walls.

@Mill J - I've tried those SAM's books before for shell scripting and actually got on well with it. Silly I know but I ended up putting PostIt notes on the pages I knew I would refer back to again and again and I was right. I actually made a quick index for myself doing that. So maybe that is the way forwards for me? Maybe I should take shares out in PostIt and plaster my books and screens in them as mental reminders LOL!

Hmmmm! I can see my gravestone now....

Here lies 'fusion1275'
Fought for his passion in Python
But suffocated in PostIt notes!

My honest answer. I look at the necessity of maintaining my job and this causes me to focus very well. I'd devote some part of every work day to learning it. End of story. I don't care if it bores me, one thought which crosses my mind is that it is not tbe world's hardest topic and that many others manage to use it, so I can do this the too.

Yeah. Been a long time since I glimpsed 43, for sure.

A couple of thoughts. Presuming this is not your first programming language, remember that you are only learning a new syntax. Equate what you know with what is similar in Python, and concentrate on what's different.

I'd probably go with O'Reilly Media books or classes because I have learned much about Unix, Linux, Perl, HTML, CSS, Javascript, BIND, etc. from their books in the past; but ultimately, it takes "heads down code crunching" to learn new languages.

Hang in there!

Never stop learning.

It might take some finagling on your part to figure out how to apply this to you, but I spent a lot of time on the basics-- particularly BASIC. When I first moved from stuff like this:

to this, in QB:

I was very excited. Shedding line numbers made it a lot easier.

When I was a kid, I thought it would be very cool to have arrays that you could look up by string instead of numeric index-- also arrays that hold more than one type. Python's got both, by the name of dictionaries and lists.

What I'm getting at is, each new feature opened a world of possibilities. I thought about features I wanted, what they could make easier, and what would be possible if I had them. I never even used functions with scope until I used Python, because the need was minimal and the syntax was distracting. This is a "noob's" critique but it held sway with me. All in all, functions are great for managing distraction.

Your impatience is understandable, but it holds you back. The best guide to choosing features like dictionaries and lists is experience. You need to build that up (practice) to feel competent. I'm no violinist, but if you pick up a violin and expect to feel competent in a short time (while jumping ahead to the more difficult work, at that) you're setting yourself up to feel exactly the way you do.

It's fine to jump ahead, but if you do, expect it to thwart you a bit. Learn to like the extra (unnecessary) challenge or as an alternative, take your time.

And this is unconventional, even frowned upon, but I think Python 2 is a lot easier in many ways. Most will equate support of Python with ease of use, but I've known professional developers and authors who think Python 2 is better. I think it's a lot more fun, and I've used both. A lot. Python 2 will be dropped in January, but only by the Python Foundation. Python 2 is less likely to help you professionally, but the PyPy interpreter will support it.

Coding in Python 2 is better than not coding in Python, in my opinion. Of course many libraries will not support Python 2 in the future either. Use the right tools for your needs.

If you're already bored with practice though, you're bored of the one absolute requirement for progress. So learn to make it fun and interesting for yourself, and you'll enjoy the thing it takes to improve. Practice, practice, practice. But look for ways to make practice enjoyable.

If you do build a death star, please don't release the source code. That exhaust port would be all over ZDNET and patched, if they had made it GPL. A tie fighter would be cool though.

P.S. The SAM's books are useful, but nearly killed the joy of learning for me. I was a teen or pre-teen, and they are the dryest resource I ever used. The O'Reilly books are a raging funhouse next to those, and I'm not even a huge fan. Just making the comparison for those who are already bored.

I second that. The alternative is stagnation.

But if Python is boring you, maybe something else would be a better option.

I've just decided to relearn chess. I was quite an avid chess player when I was a young 'un, until I discovered contract bridge. But I haven't had a foursome for bridge for quite some time . . . .

And 43 was a long time ago for me . . . .

Oh yeah! I learned Javascript in between BASIC and Python. JS is great, worth learning, but using it made Python a LOT more fun!

sounds very familiar, this seemingly unsurmountable threshold. it probably is the reason why i'm fervently sticking to bash scripts (otoh there's nothing wrong with bash, it's pretty powerful in its own right).

anyhow, this is a problem i've always had - already in school - the hardest part about writing an essay was the beginning. sometimes took me an hour to get the first paragraph, then i wrote the complete essay in 30 min, and it wasn't too bad because i'd alrady had an hour to think about it. maybe that can apply to learning python, too?

in any case i don't see how this has anything to do with age.
when i started using linux 8 years ago i was just a little younger than you, and i surely have learned a LOT since then.

Age is not a problem, just work a little slower and longer, read about the subject, and you can do anything.
I have setup my own web server at home and program using Php and Python and I am 65.
It was work but is now a hobby for the most part that can be used for a variety of interesting projects.
I also experiment with a microprocessor and electronics.

Regarding your post and as others have pointed out, what is it that you want to accomplish because each programming language has its use.

43 - that would be some time last century ... er last millennium.

Seems there is another language every other week - but I have a basic antipathy towards a language that insists on indentation rules. I see some fantastic post re python here on LQ, but then I think why did they break backward compatibility with python 3 ?.
If it hurts don't keep banging your head on the wall - go find something that suits better.

They made me very sceptical at first. I've done a 56-line script (in Python) that lets you do Python with braces instead, though personally I prefer if / fi pairs like in bash. (Or for... next.) Note there are better versions than my own 56-line version.

PyPy. http://pypy.org/compat.html It's compatible with both versions of Python (they don't say very much about whatever happened to Python 1, but I've used older versions of Python 2 and it's safe to say that more recent Python 2 is better.)

However, let me very strongly agree that the right language for you or your task, is the language that's right for you or your task. I like to advocate for languages I like, but I also advocate for people using tools that they enjoy, or at least make their lives easier. That varies from person to person and task to task.

Sounds like books, videos, and training materials might be the problem. I don't go for that stuff myself. Just pick projects that can start small, and then build them up by versions. Lots of web searching. On those searches, I see code examples with new stuff that I wasn't even looking for: "I didn't know you could do it that way!" If I ever find myself building any kind of library, I stop and search for it; somebody has usually done it better than I ever could.

I did have some tough times at the beginning, for example, with Python GUI programming. I settled on tkinter, which might be lame but really does every GUI thing that I need at the moment. Then I wanted to incorporate C modules for speed. That was confusing because there are so many packages available for doing that. I settled on the built-in system for Python C extensions, which had a bit of a learning curve but now it's great.