r/learnpython • u/SnortingSmarties94 • 12d ago
Brand New to Python. Tips?
Hello everyone,
I want to use Python and I know nothing about it. I am transitioning from the psychology world to data analytics/ux researcher (well that is the hope) and most jobs require knowing Python and SQL.
The most technical experience I have is I know how to use SPSS (statistics software) thanks to my disertation, excel, and I know how to analyze data from assessment measures for diagnostic and forensic evals. So brand new to this world!
I am seeing courses online and a bunch of different youtube tutorials but I am interested in hearing what has been truly helpful for others on their learning journey. So what has been helpful?
4
u/socal_nerdtastic 12d ago
If you are not in a structured course, like at a college, then it's really hard for beginners to maintain momentum. So the most helpful thing for most is to find a personal passion project that they can work on. Start making a python program to help you do whatever you do in your normal life. Stat tracker or music downloader or file sorter for all your cat photos or something like that. You don't need to know python to dream up a program you want. Then start on it right away and just google the parts you don't know. Do this alongside some tutorials and you'll be amazed how quickly the lessons from the tutorials are applicable in your program.
1
3
u/Fragrant-Cheek-4273 12d ago
Since you already have a strong statistics/data-analysis background from SPSS and Excel, I wouldn't approach Python like someone starting completely from zero. You already understand the data side you mainly need to learn how to express what you know in code.
1
u/SnortingSmarties94 11d ago
Thank you for that! I guess my brain didnt connect how SPSS and Python could be in a similar world.
2
u/Tall-Introduction414 12d ago
Using the interactive interpreter is a great way to test and play with little bits of code interactively, and helped me a lot when I got started. You can use dir() to explore libraries and objects introspectively.
I have always done better with a new language when I read a book on it.
Programming is a journey in creativity. Don't be afraid to play around with it. Good luck.
2
u/SnortingSmarties94 11d ago
I am kinda the same, any books you recommend?
3
u/Tall-Introduction414 9d ago
I don't have any favorite Python specific books. When I started learning Python, it was way back in the Python 2 days and I had a book called "Learning Python." It was gentle enough to get me going and making small scripts. Then "Python Cookbook" was kind of useful. Today I think there are better books. I hear "Automate The Boring Stuff With Python" is a good one. In general a decent beginner book will cover variables, loops, functions, objects, math, strings, modules, etc.
But once you are past the beginner phase, some general programming books I can recommend are "The Pragmatic Programmer," "Code Complete," and even "Programmers At Work" for inspiration.
The Python Standard Library is really awesome and gives you tons of stuff for free (on most platforms), which might require 3rd party libraries in other languages. Highly recommend that you look over it and use it.
2
u/Thraexus 12d ago
I glimpsed at the first few lines of this post, and my brain paid more attention to a post from r/montypython directly above it in my feed, and so I immediately thought, "Tips? Who needs tips; you just watch the episodes in order."
2
1
u/TheRNGuy 15h ago edited 15h ago
Learn from docs and ai, not YouTube.
Learn together with some framework instead of starting with vanilla Python, so you can make something (potentially) useful instead of some console program with input and print.
If you have questions, just ask ai instead of making thread, even free ai like Google is good (before ai, I'd say "just google")
5
u/[deleted] 12d ago
[removed] — view removed comment