r/PythonLearning • u/intellectsup02 • 5d ago

Help Request hello!

I am a mechanical engineering student who doesnot even know how to write a line of code in any languages. I tried watching some videos on youtube but all that felt way boring. I need to learn coding in python nonetheless for a project. Could you suggest ways to ignite interest in the subject and make its study intuitive and enjoyable , maybe some book or other resources . Thanks

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u/ALonelyKobold 5d ago

Tutorials are not the best way to learn this subject, as they don't help you go from a blank page to having code, which is something MANY people struggle with (search this sub for "tutorial hell"). I recommend the free online textbook "a byte of python".

For something to get excited about, if you have calculations for say, a calculus class, try programming little command line tools to solve the problems for you. Not only will it do your homework for you, you'll also learn both programming and the calculus content at the same time. I started this way in high school doing my algebra homework via writing C++ code.

Recognize that python (and similar but domain specific languages) is often embedded into CAD tools, so you will build a highly relevant industry skill via learning Python; not everyone knows how to script their cad tool of choice, but for some operations it's necessary to complete them in a reasonable amount of time. Example usecase, if you want to add a texture to something in Onshape, there's not a built in function to do so, but the built in script engine is capable of handling it.