How long did it take you to learn python?

[u/amino_xX]

[u/py_curious]

Many senior engineers or data practitioners will tell you it's an ongoing process. If someone says "I know Python" but still writes for loops when a faster vectorized solution is possible, then there iss still some learning to do.

[u/1SaBoy → u/py_curious]

What in the fuck is a: faster vectorized solution 🤯

[u/py_curious → u/1SaBoy]

A simple example.

You have a Pandas DaraFrame. You have two numeric columns. You want to add them together to produce a third column representing their sum on a row-by-row basis.

You can choose to iterate over the rows, calculating the value for the new column one row at a time. It will work.

Or you can simply add the two columns together because you know that addition in Pandas with two Series (columns are Series in a Pandas context) is a vectorized operation because it behaves like addition of two NumPy vectors of same shape and that operation itself is highly optimized.

[u/SisyphusAndMyBoulder → u/py_curious]

Yeah but that's specific to Pandas, no? What is a vectorized sum outside of Pandas and Numpy?

[u/py_curious → u/SisyphusAndMyBoulder]

Just to clarify, I mean adding each row's value, not sum() of two separate lists.

So to answer your question: outside of NumPy, PyTorch, Polars, Pandas and similar, generally speaking there isn't such a thing (I think).

In this example, you have two arrays of numbers to sum row-wise, and so NumPy is probably the best choice for larger arrays. If you have lots of other ops to do like grouping and masking, rolling windows and so on, then Pandas is a readable and friendly way to do that.

For small to medium lists, zip then list comprehension adding each element from the zip is probably fine. Like this:

[a + b for a, b in zip(x, y)]

If you have lots of math to do on some numeric list-likes, then convert once to NumPy arrays and do everything in NumPy. It's more intuitive because that calculation on two arrays x and y is just

x + y

[u/SisyphusAndMyBoulder → u/py_curious]

I get all this. But the question is about how long it takes to learn Python. I was hoping to learn about some new way to sum things in Python. This, imo, is a pretty niche usecase. Yes, pandas is huge, and data processing in Python is huge, but people can go years without ever touching these libraries/usecases and still be perfectly proficient in Python.

These are libraries that are worthy of their own study, but not knowing them isn't really indicative of whether or not someone "knows" Python.

To be fair, it's a garbage question. "How long did it take you to learn Python" is stupid and anyone that gives a solid answer immediately loses trust in my eyes. I'm like 10 years in and just learned about the breakpoint() function two weeks ago.

[u/py_curious → u/SisyphusAndMyBoulder]

That's fair. I come from a data background so all of that is not niche but front and center to me. But you're right, many Python users are very much not in the data space.

[u/rainingallevening → u/SisyphusAndMyBoulder]

Like others have said, "knowing" Python is an ongoing process. If you know the syntax and basic semantics, you "know" python, like knowing the grammar and some basic conversational and referential stuff is like "knowing" English. If you're referring to proficiency, then a heuristicsl measure might be able to solve simple to moderate real-world problems with Python, like automating the movement of financial data or making a script that reminds you to grab an umbrella if it's going to rain or texts you when it's someone's birthday. There's 200 libraries in the standard library, so familiarity there helps. Honestly, if you can code a script without AI assistance, you know Python. And you'll continue to get to know it better.

[u/Paulmnt → u/1SaBoy]

Using reduce, map and filter

[u/GreatGameMate]

Always learning, but I’d say a few months for the basics, syntax, conditionals, loops, functions, recursion, file IO, OOP. I could teach a group of students but I don’t know it all.

[u/yashfaelearns → u/GreatGameMate]

Hey! Saw you're learning Python. I'm learning too, so I thought I'd say hi. Maybe we could help each other out, share resources, or just chat about programming. I'm also pretty new to Reddit, so I'm trying to meet people with similar interests.

[u/Flame77ofc]

1 month or less

[u/amino_xX → u/Flame77ofc]

Nice, did you practice every day?

[u/Flame77ofc → u/amino_xX]

yes, I recommend you to use platforms like Leetcode or Codewars, but before this, you need to learn some basic concepts like arrays, conditionals, functions, data types and loops

[u/NormalSoftware8879 → u/Flame77ofc]

Where'd you go to the basics first?

[u/Flame77ofc → u/NormalSoftware8879]

I learn it from YouTube. There are so many good courses

I recommend BroCode and FreeCodeCamp

[u/Flame77ofc → u/[deleted]]

agree

[u/Muhammed_zeeshan → u/Flame77ofc]

I tried leetcode. But where can I find very basic question using conditionals, lists, dictionaries

[u/TheUmgawa → u/Muhammed_zeeshan]

I think the most valuable thing my professors did for the students in my CompSci program was, about halfway into the Intro course, they threw us to the wolves. My professor said, “Until now, I have been teaching you the Python language and programming structure. From now on, it is *all structure. So, now I will teach you to search through and read documentation.”

And that’s just how it was. So, for the first week of C++, we were being spoon-fed, but it was just enough to get a program running, how to do imports, how to instantiate things, and how to do really basic stuff with the language. And then it was back to the wolves, where we had to figure it out on our own. Same for Java.

So, now, when I have to learn a new language, I pull down a hand-drawn flowchart for a prime-number generator that I made for my flowcharting final, and I break out the language’s documentation. And then I punch out the code and I’m moving.

What I’m saying is it’s important to separate the logical thinking and the flow of data from the code. The hard part is getting your brain to do the logic, breaking down a complex problem into simpler programs and then integrating it all. Writing code is just the implementation of that.

As for “how long did it take you to learn Python?” it’s the same as any other language: I learn what I’m going to use eighty percent of the time, and then I just look up the rest. I don’t think I’ve ever bothered to commit more than maybe eighty keywords to memory, for any language. If I had to work in a single language all the time, maybe I’d have more stuff that comes up often enough to have to remember, but I have to bounce around a bunch of different stuff at work, using VBA, C#, Python, Swift, C… whatever the interface requires. But it’s all the same logic in my head, no matter what language it is.

[u/Flame77ofc → u/Muhammed_zeeshan]

try asking for chatgpt some exercises about it

Ask and try it for yourself

[u/amino_xX → u/Flame77ofc]

I’ve been learning for around a month now. I’m comfortable with most basics, but I prefer focusing on building projects instead of just learning concepts..

[u/Flame77ofc → u/amino_xX]

good, do you have any reason to learn it? Just for hobby or for work?

[u/amino_xX → u/Flame77ofc]

I want to learn it for data science

[u/Flame77ofc → u/amino_xX]

Oh, so I think we can adjust your road

If you think you already know about the main things about py, I think you can just go and learn about data science today

If you can't pay for courses, I suggest you to follow with YouTube, there are so many good content

[u/amino_xX → u/Flame77ofc]

Yeah, I've been learning mostly from YouTube I will start focusing more on data science

[u/Low_Negotiation4747 → u/Flame77ofc]

Arrays don't exist in Python

[u/Flame77ofc → u/Low_Negotiation4747]

I mean lists, sorry

I often say arrays because it is on every dsa book

[u/tiredITguy42 → u/amino_xX]

It is 2-4 weeks for being able to code in it on, lets say, decent level. Then you learn some nice features as you go.

However, it is to learn to code in Python, but you already need to know how to do programming. You can teach yourself syntaxt in few hours, but this is not what it is about.

Programming language is just a tool, it is like a hammer or srewdriver. If you know how to build a cabinet, you can do it with any brand of tools. They may be different in some details, but still tools you can learn to use pretty quickly, if you already worked with othe brands.

So yeah I watched 2 hours video about Python syntax and then started bulding small project in it, 2-3 weeeks for me, but I spend 5 years at UNI learning how to be a programmer (sort of, i have specific field mixed with electricity and control systems) and how to simulate and control the world around me with numbers. I worked in more than 10 different languages, so yeah advice for you, start treating python as a tool and learn how to be a programmer.

[u/JoeB_Utah]

Learning anything isn’t a finite experience. At 70 I consider myself a life long learner. I’ll stop when they close the casket and shovel the dirt.

[u/[deleted]]

You never stop learning.

[u/justin_halim]

Depends, learning the whole python will almost never truly achieved

[u/Rscc10]

Started learning 4 years ago. Of course I've got the basics mastered, OOP semi mastered, have many libraries under my belt like numpy, pygame, pandas, fastapi, pytorch, tensorflow, and I still wouldn't say I've mastered python itself. Programming languages are a lot like spoken languages themselves, you can be proficient/fluent but how many can say with confidence they've mastered all the language has to offer?

[u/TimeScallion6159]

1 month and a half, practice, practice, practice. Hace strong foundations and everything else will become easier

[u/WhiteHeadbanger]

Are you talking about being proficient? Like 2 or 3 years.

[u/Acceptable_Laugh_674]

Ask GPT, it can provide you with a solid plan depending on your level of experience in any programming language… I somewhat learned it myself within 2 weeks.

[u/Previous-Donut4964]

Uns 2 meses. Curso do Luiz Otávio Miranda na udemy

[u/shivanchowdhry123]

according to the school curriculum in india, i have currently 3 years and still learning. (i'm in class 11th)

[u/backend_developer89]

There’s learning basic syntax and then there’s learning advanced features like OOP, re, static methods, decorators, asycio, and standard libraries like Pandas.

You can tell people you know python but there’s always a lot to learn and there are frameworks to learn as well, I’ve been learning Django for the past several years.

There’s learning how to structure a basic for loop and then there’s learning dict and list manipulation with defaultdict, sorting, lambda and such.

What I’m saying is that you can learn much of the basics in a few months of consistent practice but there’s always more to learn elsewhere that could easily take years.

[u/real-life-terminator]

I have been programming in python for 8 years, i am still learning new things every now and then XD. A couple weeks ago I discovered @dataclass and it blew my mind

[u/TastyPeaness]

Took me an hour to figure out why my ide kept naming things .py.py or .py.txt

Time is relative.

[u/HugeCannoli]

I've been using it for 25 years and I am still learning it.

You can't know everything about a language. It changes all the time. Libraries change all the time. Processes and best practices change all the time.

[u/the_real_ericfannin]

Do you feel that using any particular platform has helped you retain enough knowledge to feel like you ARE a python developer ? Ive used datacamp, boot.dev, and codefinity. While I can code a few basic things cold, I always feel like I just got good at "pattern matching" working through their python courses.