> > I'm 28 years old, currently unemployed and not in school until fall of > 2015 as a junior. I picked up python a little under a year ago, with the > hopes that I could make a career out of programming - when I finish school > that is. So, as of right now you could say it's a hobby, however, I > figured that I would jump the gun and learn it now, on my own, with widely > available resources we have today. Currently, I have a solid foundation of > how data structures and how OOP works, but the problem lies within having > analysis paralysis. I have a tendency to over analyze everything, and with > programming - as we all know - there are a million ways to accomplish the > same task. >
On Fri, Dec 19, 2014 at 8:06 AM, Dave Angel <da...@davea.name> wrote: > On 12/18/2014 09:09 PM, Brandon Dorsey wrote: > >> Hello All, >> >> Programming has always been a passion of mine, >> > > A great start. Can you tell us a little more about yourself? Is Python > the first language you've tried, or are you successful at other languages? > Are you in school, at what level, do you already have some other career and > this is a hobby? Do you have some hobbies that programming might synergize > with? > > > however, I'm frequently > >> frustrated at >> >> simple fact that I've been learning python for 8 months, and I have yet to >> start, and finish, a simple >> >> project. >> > > How are you learning python? Are you in a class, did you buy a book, > download a tutorial, what? > > I find difficult to not only visualize the execution, >> > > There are tools that may help with that, but it's not clear to me whether > that would really help. If you want to play, you could look at: > > ttp://www.pythontutor.com/visualize.html#mode=edit > > but to figure out when and where to >> >> use data structure 'x'. >> > > Alan gave some brief descriptions. You should realize that those are just > the particular collections that are in the builtin section of python. > There are many more in the standard library, MANY more out on the internet > (eg. pypi), and many more in your head, just aching to come out. > > Any suggestions on how to approach programming > >> from a different angle? >> > > That's a great perspective. > > We're now drowning in a sea of riches, information on any topic. But in > most cases, you have to be introduced to a topic systematically, with > controlled flow, in order to understand what the fancier concepts are all > about. When I "started" programming in 1966, it was with a borrowed > Fortran book over spring break. I wrote a number of programs on sheets of > paper, but had no machine to execute them on. (I also expect there were > more errors than useful statements, but I didn't know anything about that > either) I went on a field trip to the nearest computer, which was at > Yale. I got to see the actual machinery through some large windows, but > didn't have a chance to run anything till almost a year later, at my own > college. Even then, freshmen weren't taught anything about them, and I had > to learn from another student how to submit punched cards to the computer. > And how to run jobs without having a legitimate account. > > Frequently when people develop an interest in programming now, it's in > order to write a game, design a website, or to solve some fairly complex > problem. If they then try to research the tools, they get overwhelmed with > the possibilities. And without a narrower focus, they never get that > satisfaction that comes with finishing a project. > > Without knowing anything at all about you really, I'd suggest you either > take a course, or really *do* a tutorial. Many people just read a book (or > site) about the subject, and don't actually try the exercises. In my case > it was excusable, since I didn't have the several million dollars necessary > to buy a computer, but the principle still holds. Start small, and > systematically build up your abilities. If you're disciplined enough to do > that on your own, there are many Python tutorials that you can download. > And when you get stuck, you'll have a manageable problem that somebody can > help with. > > If you've done all that, and you're still stuck, then be much more > specific in your question here. Pick a project (or exercise, or > assignment) that you've started working on, and describe the following: > > 1) python version and OS version > 2) project description > 3) code fragment that shows your present difficulty > 4) what happens, and what you hoped would happen > 5) any error messages (show the full stack trace) you get > 6) meaningful subject line > > Python is a fabulous language for learning. You can get feedback a few > seconds after you run the code, and you can make a change and try again in > under a minute. I worked in one environment where the turnaround for a > compile was about a day and a half. And in another where the compile of > the complete application was done only once a week, and making it was a > half-time job for the build-master. > > I've also worked in environments where I had to build my own programming > tools, starting with a text editor. And in environments where we entered > the code in hex. And generating the hex was a pencil/paper exercise. > Looseleaf notebook was the source code. > > > > -- > DaveA > > _______________________________________________ > Tutor maillist - Tutor@python.org > To unsubscribe or change subscription options: > https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor > _______________________________________________ Tutor maillist - Tutor@python.org To unsubscribe or change subscription options: https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor
