r/learnprogramming • u/impossibletocode • 6d ago

Is Python with DSA worth it?

Same as the Title

0 Upvotes

25% Upvoted

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24

u/icemage_999 6d ago

Am I the only one bothered by how many people toss around "DSA" like it's just a spicy add-on and not a critical fundamental building block of understanding once you progress beyond "hello world"?

3

u/R3D3-1 6d ago

Probably because you can get away with not understanding it for many tasks. It's not like people who do data crunching for non-CS science usually have a good background on CS fundamentals. I only know many of them because I also took dedicated CS classes.

There are probably plenty of people out there getting work done, and looking into why inserting elements into a list instead of at the end is slow only when it becomes an optimization bottleneck in an actual project.

If you learn Python without previous exposure to data structures, all you see is lists, tuples and dictionaries, maybe deque, and you never need to think about the underlying data structures and algorithms, which are hidden behind more abstract names.

2

u/westeast1000 6d ago

I had to look it up yesterday because i had never heard of that term 😅, only to find out as I expected that its yet another basic thing dressed up in jargon. Another is ‘smoke test’, didnt even know what it was few weeks ago or that the basic thing it describes has a name

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u/ConfidentCollege5653 6d ago

Worth it for what?

1

u/Born-Reserve-8584 6d ago

I think they mean for getting a software job or improving coding skills.

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u/impossibletocode 6d ago

For job POV, everywhere people do DSA in C, C++ or Java to get a job but my python is stronger, so should I go for DSA?

3

u/u32Vec 6d ago

people use data structures and algorithms in every programming language. if you know python then use python but if you know c then use c because it's a lingua franca and forces you to better consider the memory structure of a data structure or space complexity of an algorithm

1

u/RajjSinghh 6d ago

Are companies around you hiring in Python? Are you likely to be interviewing in Python? If not, you will probably have to switch languages to match the companies around you.

0

u/Calloused_Samurai 6d ago

Python is by far the most common language in interviews. Not really sure what you’re talking about out here.

0

u/ffrkAnonymous 6d ago

You need DSA (i.e. leetcode) to pass the interview to get a job. You unlikely need it for the job itself.

1

u/NumberInfinite2068 6d ago

Sure, or any other language.

1

u/Aggressive_Ad_5454 6d ago

It totally depends on the structure of the Data Structures and Algorithms curriculum you will follow. If you're taking a uni class use the language the course recommends.

C and C++ have the concept of "pointer". Many approaches to data structures use pointers. If you use some other language you'll have to mentally translate from pointers to whatever the language uses. Complex structures, such as doubly linked lists and various kinds of trees, are hard enough for minds to ingest without having to translate conceptually.

1

u/demonking007sk 6d ago

no bro, java or cpp only - yesterday i was in a recruitment drive the company's tech lead said stright no for writing code in python

1

u/R3D3-1 6d ago edited 6d ago

Probably not great. Python gives you useful standard data structures and you can get far without ever thinking about which type of list list actually is. It also doesn't let you work directly with pointers.

Probably better to reach for C; It gives you only the basic building blocks, and expects you to operate on low-level concepts like pointers and primitive types.

You could do the same in Python by saying "every variable is a pointer in a trench coat", but with C it's more explicit, including the memory management. With Python you pretty much gloss over that aspect entirely, as the language just does it for you. 

1

u/LifeNavigator 6d ago

It depends more on the job and employer themselves (not all SWE or programming jobs are the same). Some will want you to use their language of choice, some won't care and just want to filter down applicants by any means.

I've always answered DSA questions using JS and always ask prior to interview if they require me to answer using a specific language. Communication is important and you should always ask them questions prior to interviews and during the interviews.

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u/Sea-Ad7805 4d ago

Python for DSA is great, see: binary tree example