Return-Path: <rosuav@gmail.com>
X-Original-To: python-list@python.org
Delivered-To: python-list@mail.python.org
X-Spam-Status: OK 0.017
X-Spam-Evidence: '*H*': 0.97; '*S*': 0.00; 'subject:Python': 0.06; '21,': 0.07; 'indicating': 0.07; 'app,': 0.09; 'definition,': 0.09; 'friday,': 0.09; 'python': 0.11; 'gui': 0.12; 'language.': 0.14; 'question.': 0.14; 'random': 0.14; 'windows': 0.15; '2:28': 0.16; 'c++.': 0.16; 'from:addr:rosuav': 0.16; 'from:name:chris angelico': 0.16; 'normally.': 0.16; 'python",': 0.16; 'script,': 0.16; 'sorts': 0.16; 'sat,': 0.16; 'language': 0.16; 'wrote:': 0.18; 'later': 0.20; 'code,': 0.22; 'example': 0.22; 'python?': 0.22; 'parse': 0.24; 'text,': 0.24; 'fairly': 0.24; 'task': 0.26; 'primary': 0.26; 'header:In-Reply-To:1': 0.27; 'chris': 0.29; 'on,': 0.29; 'am,': 0.29; 'message-id:@mail.gmail.com': 0.30; 'asked': 0.31; '(maybe': 0.31; 'bunch': 0.31; 'sep': 0.31; 'know.': 0.32; 'not.': 0.33; 'sense': 0.34; "i'd": 0.34; 'info': 0.35; 'common': 0.35; 'late': 0.35; 'point.': 0.35; 'but': 0.35; 'received:google.com': 0.35; 'there': 0.35; '(we': 0.36; 'done': 0.36; 'problems': 0.38; 'needed': 0.38; 'to:addr:python-list': 0.38; 'extremely': 0.39; 'to:addr:python.org': 0.39; 'even': 0.60; 'easy': 0.60; 'subject:"': 0.60; 'hope': 0.61; 'till': 0.61; 'today,': 0.61; 'back': 0.62; 'myself': 0.63; 'levels': 0.65; 'urgent': 0.67; 'jobs': 0.68; '20,': 0.68; 'answer.': 0.68; 'overall': 0.69; 'shop': 0.69; '1990s,': 0.84; 'subject:before': 0.84; 'subject:know': 0.84; 'subject:saying': 0.84; 'tended': 0.84; 'luck': 0.93; '2013': 0.98
DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=20120113; h=mime-version:in-reply-to:references:date:message-id:subject:from:to :content-type; bh=bIz4tlLGCpFfEuyS+b9PVAcHmW2XJZFsKmifvDcTBLg=; b=Q7WB1rl92KN7MBgGFIpSumNofoctqGiVPx2h1O1lvBmztH35IQVFbZiIRcm48On6+P ZL4TiZgJX3vf69107fFqLA5h7Z3pWpVd1DCaO4t7yoysIb4sqdNSXYyxsfQa1H5EUY08 TfaORLEv1AzKCvCz909Gh6beG3fCZ59b805tuHPjTHaj4vMNPFsHJ9CDks3CjuqMSvhG lFD8FUzBW4w/YQfnjWtuvXNKDzHZf8vZKfp0LzSxF9YW91dxp8HXqQWMoKgGGwtt91FZ yozZp6bldITpQREzPIwMIjrKYywCf7CCX3FbACir9wHc5nmCB40lobQh16mBFxBmvCFZ YXmA==
MIME-Version: 1.0
X-Received: by 10.52.34.109 with SMTP id y13mr8033806vdi.8.1379729204849; Fri, 20 Sep 2013 19:06:44 -0700 (PDT)
In-Reply-To: <3fa2d1ea-c873-43c3-b703-1e187e7bc6ce@googlegroups.com>
References: <31df03f7-2b81-483a-9242-b83ba4559b1a@googlegroups.com> <97f90924-7690-442c-a1b3-4d7409e30d44@googlegroups.com> <mailman.182.1379684366.18130.python-list@python.org> <31648467-19e8-484c-995d-1e5ba48b5ea3@googlegroups.com> <771f2126-883f-40de-8df0-93c79061305f@googlegroups.com> <mailman.192.1379694881.18130.python-list@python.org> <3fa2d1ea-c873-43c3-b703-1e187e7bc6ce@googlegroups.com>
Date: Sat, 21 Sep 2013 12:06:44 +1000
Subject: Re: What minimum should a person know before saying "I know Python"
From: Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com>
To: python-list@python.org
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
X-BeenThere: python-list@python.org
X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.15
Precedence: list
List-Id: General discussion list for the Python programming language <python-list.python.org>
List-Unsubscribe: <https://mail.python.org/mailman/options/python-list>, <mailto:python-list-request@python.org?subject=unsubscribe>
List-Archive: <http://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-list/>
List-Post: <mailto:python-list@python.org>
List-Help: <mailto:python-list-request@python.org?subject=help>
List-Subscribe: <https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list>, <mailto:python-list-request@python.org?subject=subscribe>
Newsgroups: comp.lang.python
Message-ID: <mailman.211.1379729213.18130.python-list@python.org>
Lines: 34
NNTP-Posting-Host: 2001:888:2000:d::a6
X-Trace: 1379729213 news.xs4all.nl 15892 [2001:888:2000:d::a6]:39981
X-Complaints-To: abuse@xs4all.nl
Path: csiph.com!usenet.pasdenom.info!news.stben.net!border3.nntp.ams.giganews.com!border1.nntp.ams.giganews.com!nntp.giganews.com!xlned.com!feeder5.xlned.com!newsfeed.xs4all.nl!newsfeed3.news.xs4all.nl!xs4all!newsgate.cistron.nl!newsgate.news.xs4all.nl!post.news.xs4all.nl!not-for-mail
Xref: csiph.com comp.lang.python:54525

On Sat, Sep 21, 2013 at 3:40 AM, Aseem Bansal <asmbansal2@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Friday, September 20, 2013 10:04:32 PM UTC+5:30, Chris Angelico wrote:
>> On Sat, Sep 21, 2013 at 2:28 AM, Aseem Bansal <asmbansal2@gmail.com> wrote:
>> > I hope that cleared some confusion about what I wanted to ask. I wanted to gauge myself to find if I am progressing or not.
>>
>> Well, based on my definition, that's easy to answer. Have you solved
>> problems using Python? If you have a bunch of HTML pages and you need
>> to get some info out of all of them by COB today, do you think "I can
>> do that with Python", or do you think "I can do that with sed, awk,
>> grep, and five levels of pipe"? The tools you use for an urgent job
>> will be the ones you know.
>>
>> ChrisA
>
> Yeah I have...
> But that was pure luck that I had done the random example that you had chosen. It would be difficult to find my overall progress by the one thing.
>
> I am currently unemployed so the sense of urgency isn't there normally. That's why I asked this question. But I got your point.

It wasn't exactly a random example; it's an extremely common task
(maybe without the "must be done today" restriction), and one that
Python happens to do fairly well. :)

There was a time, back in the 1990s, when REXX was my primary
language. (We were exclusively an OS/2 shop at the time, so it was a
good choice.) If I needed to write a quick script, it would be in
REXX. If I needed to parse text, I'd use REXX. If I wanted a GUI app,
I'd write it in VX-REXX. Later on, when I needed to write Windows
code, I tended to use C++. It wasn't till the late 2000s that I
started using Python for those sorts of jobs - even though I'd met the
language back in the 90s - indicating that that's when I actually knew
the language.

ChrisA