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Date: Fri, 1 Aug 2014 06:04:45 +1000
Subject: Re: What is best way to learn Python for advanced developer?
From: Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com>
Cc: "python-list@python.org" <python-list@python.org>
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On Fri, Aug 1, 2014 at 3:46 AM, Je Ph <contactus77group@gmail.com> wrote:
> Ethan et al, has anyone completed the oreilly python 1 through python 4
> training courses (part of their Python Certificate track)? Looks like it
> will take over 2 months to complete it and it's expensive.
>
> I'm trying to decide if it's worth the investment. With a full time job, it
> would take me a lot longer than contiguous 2 months to go through the
> training. My objectives are A) to gain more python experience, B) while
> gaining more programming exposure. Although I have my CS degree and can read
> and understand code well, I haven't had to write many programs yet.
>
> Will this course help with both objectives?

I can't tell you about any specific course, but I will tell you this:
There's no shortcutting it. You're going to need to put in some
serious hours before you can gain true competence. Every language you
know makes the next ones easier, and when you know 99 languages you
can probably learn the hundredth in a weekend, but that weekend would
still have a lot of work in it. So don't be put off by the two months;
if this is important to you, it'll be worth it.

One suggestion: Have an "excuse project". [1] I didn't learn any of
the Python web frameworks until I decided that it was high time to
rewrite one particular web site of mine from the PHP that it had
originally been written in (to make it compatible with the dirt-cheap
web hosting that I was looking at at the time) into a language that I
can actually be proud of. Took me 6.5 hours to learn and deploy,
because I was already highly familiar with the language, and was just
learning the framework; having an actual goal in mind stopped me from
meandering into random "hey this looks cool" territory and getting
lost there. It doesn't matter if your excuse project is recreating
something that already exists, just as long as it's something you're
trying to accomplish.

Also: Have fun! Don't make this the drudgery, the "grind for levels so
you can get what you want". Enjoy the journey too!

[1] http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ExcusePlot

ChrisA