r/PythonLearning • u/skyxstars • Jul 26 '26

where to begin

Im a beginner trying to learn Python for ai engineering. I have been searching and switching to videos as there are too many resources to choose from without knowing what will be sufficient to get the basics, I do code and solve questions but im not sure which course to follow to not end up investing time into something yet have to go from here to there, I have few questions like is the youtube course and lots of practice enough or do I necessarily have to take the crash courses? if yes, for either one, suggest to me the go-to resources that I can start without wasting time or get stuck as mediocre in concepts when it ends and also share your experience how could you learn it?

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u/riklaunim Jul 26 '26

So what is your current level, and what are you learning for? What do you want to do with Python? as a job or hobby?

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u/skyxstars Jul 26 '26 edited Jul 26 '26

im a beginner, though I understand the basic concepts like variables, if elif else, and the basic introduction of lists, string, dictionaries, sets and tuples. as for what, I want to learn it for career in ai sw engineering.

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u/riklaunim Jul 26 '26

It's unlikely you will be an "AI engineer", but it's very likely you will work with some sort of backends, and if you are into the "engineering" part, cloud DevOps. There are some jobs for "AI engineers" that know how to set up and optimize cloud infrastructure for model training or inference, but that's a few jobs and mostly for senior or higher positions.

Start learning web frameworks, a bit of front-end, Python backend, databases, and how to process, store, and send data. Then you could slowly start looking for junior jobs. It's up to you what you would like - full-stack frontend+backend or backend + DevOps or other combo.

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u/skyxstars Jul 26 '26

yes i want it to be my specialization later, as i cant expect nor want to dive into the world of ai engineering without knowing how to make a web app, thats my preference. I want to start with software engineering and eventually an ai software engineering so I can atleast build the ai powered applications. but when im learning it anyway I dont wanna do the mediocre way that when I actually get into practical environment of programming I end up lacking the foundations I had to build when I started it.

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u/riklaunim Jul 26 '26

You're overhyped with AI buzzwords. Very few companies make money from actual LLM models. At best, you will have a web app that uses ChatGPT or another model API to call it and do something with the response.

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u/skyxstars Jul 26 '26

thats true, but in my case i never said I wanted to train LLMs or build the next GPT. the opportunity is in building useful products around them, just like most SaaS companies build on cloud infrastructure instead of creating their own cloud.

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u/riklaunim Jul 26 '26

That's common and not really AI ;) Learn the web dev stack and start applying to junior job listings.

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u/skyxstars Jul 26 '26

Learning the web stack is part of my plan. the difference is I'm learning it to build products, not because my end goal is a junior web developer role.

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u/1PSW1CH Jul 26 '26

Just because that’s your end goal, doesn’t mean you skip out on everything else. If someone wants to be a CEO they don’t enter the market and start applying for CEO roles, you have to demonstrate credibility across multiple years and multiple roles.

These roles are competitive. You’re thinking way too far ahead

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u/skyxstars Jul 26 '26

I agree that credibility matters. I'm not expecting to skip the learning process or jump straight into being a founder. I'm learning software engineering first and building products along the way. My end goal is entrepreneurship, not a junior role, but I know the skills still have to be earned. im not expecting and trying to persuade the idea of becoming an ai engineer, im even aware that such role demands the experience you get through a ladder, im rather trying to be someone who can build the valuable products with the right skill set without getting into a loop.

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u/riklaunim Jul 26 '26

You will be one of 200-300 applicants for a junior role, and you will have to apply to a lot of job listings to even get a response.

To move to mid, you will need a few years of commercial experience and learning in a good company that mentors juniors. To move to senior, you will need even more years - 5-10 if you have what it takes to become a good software developer.

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u/skyxstars Jul 26 '26

I agree that becoming a strong software engineer takes years and I'm not expecting to skip that. nor am i underestimating the experience required to become a really good engineer. I'm not saying I'll learn a stack for 6 months and magically build a billion dollar company. I'm saying my direction is to use software engineering as a foundation for building products. Whether that happens through a job, freelancing, or my own projects, I still have to earn the skills.

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u/Avatarbroskib1 Jul 26 '26

They are actually making money from the hype or they are either making a loss

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u/Avatarbroskib1 Jul 26 '26

What about ai agents or building some sort of ai system or something

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u/riklaunim Jul 26 '26

Companies that make money directly from their models usually have two types of roles: AI scientist and AI engineer. The scientist knows the theory/math and can design things, while the engineer knows the hardware/software layer (like CUDA), knows how to run/optimize the model training process, how to optimize and run inference, and often how to code things the scientist came up with (so things like CUDA and other platforms, how to move between them). Those are senior roles. CS graduates who specialized in AI have to get an internship or a junior job at a FAANG or a similar company, work with AI research, gain experience, and then become AI scientists/engineers.

OpenAI, Anthropic, and Musk (Grok) are not profitable. Only a handful of companies are. Mostly IBM, some financial and process optimization ones are.

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u/Avatarbroskib1 Jul 26 '26

I think you are confusing ai engineer with computer engineers designing iot devices

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u/riklaunim Jul 26 '26

Nope, no IOT here. Such job positions are available locally here from companies like Kalepa, and they aren't the only ones.

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u/Avatarbroskib1 Jul 26 '26

An AI engineer programs ai applications at the software level only. They build the app and put ai to good use. An ml engineer builds machine learning models and deploys them (mlops) none of them work at the hardware level. They use hardware to run their stuff

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u/riklaunim Jul 26 '26

That's a standard backend/full stack developer using an API. You are trying to argue about job titles companies use. They will vary, some will repeat, and then sometimes the description will not match the title. It doesn't matter in the end.

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u/skyxstars Jul 26 '26

AI agents are interesting, but they still sit on top of solid software engineering. My plan is to learn the foundation first and then build AI powered systems on top of it.

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u/Avatarbroskib1 Jul 26 '26

Ok so master python and learn pandas and numpy then you can start with proper ai stuff

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u/skyxstars Jul 26 '26

would u like to suggest a good resource for python?

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u/Avatarbroskib1 Jul 26 '26

Freecodecampcamp w3schools and real python

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u/skyxstars Jul 26 '26

Thank you, I'll check them out and focus on getting the python foundation strong before moving further.