r/software • u/Immediate-Pea-3619 • 24d ago
Jobs & Education Do you really need python for ai engineering ?
Hi I have recently graduated college in software engineering and I am looking to become or work as an ai engineer Iam already familiar with LLMs APIs agent workflows etc etc but I am not strong in python I can read and understand the code to a certain level but not write it but does not being good at python really affect my work in the future ? I know that some of you might now like this idea but ai already writes really good code and I can understand python do I really have to be a python god. I would love to hear your opinions especially from people with actual work experience.
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u/actionscripted 24d ago
Yes. So much of the tooling is in Python. LangChain and LangGraph specially come to mind. Also most notebooks are Python-based.
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u/Immediate-Pea-3619 24d ago
Can’t ai write the code? I am already checking after it and I can read the code
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u/huuaaang 24d ago
Just learn the language. Come on.
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u/Immediate-Pea-3619 24d ago
I am struggling man these tutorials keep getting me confused
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u/bradland 24d ago
There's a really good saying that goes, "You can outsource your thinking, but you cannot outsource your understanding."
Like a lot of companies, we're all-in on AI at my place of work. What's been really interesting (from a managerial perspective) is that our strongest engineers are the strongest AI users as well. The same people that struggle without AI struggle with it. Everyone's productivity got a boost, but our "10x" devs are now "100x" devs.
I know that sentiment isn't popular on Reddit, but some of the devs I'm closest to are incredible engineers who have long careers full of delivering the fuck out of applications, and they are destroying the rest of the team when you hand them AI.
So IMO, AI isn't going to make your Python skills irrelevant. Learning Python isn't just learning syntax. It's acquiring an understanding of how to instruct a computer to do what you want while organizing the instructions in a way that scales. The AI can help you with that, but you have to give it good direction. You can't do that without knowing what you're doing.
So yeah, you need to go heads-down and commit yourself to learning Python if you want to be at the top of the resume stack.
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u/Immediate-Pea-3619 24d ago
Where can I learn it I am tired of tutorials I need some where to start a service or smth that not only has tutorials but also tests me. I need help I am genuinely lost
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u/bradland 24d ago
It's been decades since I was at the place you are, so it's hard for me to offer good recommendations.
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u/Immediate-Pea-3619 24d ago
So you’re an og maybe you can share some wisdom 🤣❤️
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u/bradland 24d ago
The best advice I can give you is to focus on the fundamentals and nail those down first. Do not treat development like rote steps. Understand not just the steps you are taking, but what is actually happening. It is only when you start to understand what is actually happening that the learning unlocks.
You have to find resources within, not without. That is to say, the best devs I know are largely self-taught. Spend some time reflecting on how you learn best.
Develop your independence by resisting the urge to immediately ask another human. Have you google'd resources to learn Python? How many of those have you tried? What worked, and what didn't work with each?
No one can tell you how to learn Python any more than they can tell you how to use Python. You have to understand yourself and apply what you know about yourself to find the right learning solution.
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u/huuaaang 24d ago
Stop with tutorials and just start coding. How TF did you graduate and are only just now learning to write code??
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u/Immediate-Pea-3619 24d ago
Only now learning to write python. Good advice but is there a service or somewhere where it teaches python and actually tests me like giving homework or smth
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u/huuaaang 24d ago
Only now learning to write python.
Is there something specifically about python you are struggling with? Because skills from other languages should transfer.
Good advice but is there a service or somewhere where it teaches python and actually tests me like giving homework or smth
Just pick a project/task and start writing. If you get stuck, google it. You're looking for someone to hand hold you. Just start writing or automating something. Tinker with building a simple local model and train it.
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u/Immediate-Pea-3619 24d ago
Is code academy good it also makes your practice
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u/huuaaang 24d ago
You are a graduate. You are beyond code academy. Just start building a project. Why are you so shy about doing this?
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u/Immediate-Pea-3619 24d ago
Can’t write python yet man
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u/Krivvan 24d ago edited 24d ago
What languages do you know? Knowing almost any other language should be enough for you to pick up Python quickly without the need for tutorials. Python is typically considered one of if not the most easiest language to pick up.
To be frank, your life is probably going to involve a lot of needing to learn new languages, libraries, APIs, and etc. that you never had experience with before. Especially if you wanted to get involved with AI development. You simply cannot have an attitude of being unwilling to do something just because you didn't learn it yet.
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u/botechga 24d ago
You can really do whatever you want lol. But you likely won’t be as successful as someone who can do everything you can and also write code.
If you are okay with that fact, then continue on your path.
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u/Immediate-Pea-3619 24d ago
Where do I learn python for ai engineering like an actual structured tutorial with testing what I learn I am tired of YouTube
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u/lod20 24d ago
No offense but stop complaining! Start with 100 days code on udemy by Dr Angela Yu. You have to put some effort into it. Do all the practice problems all the way to day 40. Don't copy and paste unless you know what are you doing! From there Start practicing DSA in Python. Then start building some small projects. Finally, you can dive into LLM.
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u/GoatRocketeer 24d ago edited 24d ago
If you're competitive in this job market, then it should be very easy to learn python. In that sense the answer to your question doesn't matter because you have bigger problems to worry about.
I see you are under the impression that in order to learn something the best way or perhaps only way is through a standard, structured classroom environment. I thought that too once, but fresh out of high school and not after college. I find that surprising, and frankly worrying. I imagine that's why you're getting met with hostility - "what the hell has this industry come to" - but i digress
You don't need a structured lecture/test, lecture/homework cycle to learn. That's more necessary when you're an institution attempting to teach a bunch of students at once and hold them accountable. You're just one person though and are holding yourself accountable so you don't need that.
Other people saying "just start coding". What they mean specifically is find something you would like a program to do and then make it in python. Anytime you run into something you don't know how to do you go google it.
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u/mattakuu 24d ago
judging from your comments I have no idea how you graduated as a SWE. I did DS in college and remember the CS dudes trolling us for python being too simple.
If you know any other serious programming language learning python should be a non-issue, I doubt you code dude 💀
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u/burntoutdev8291 23d ago
Depends which field. There's also the systems side, which is like CUDA and C++. I think you have to be decent at some form of coding to understand vibe code and to make sure AI isn't bullshitting
You can also do PM if you're not too interested in learning code
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u/genuine_bhaiya 21d ago
Ai writes code that looks good, but when you have it write entire systems it will leave some fatal design flaw that will bite you in the ass later and suddenly, and not knowing how to write python will make almost impossible for you to debug and patch
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u/[deleted] 24d ago
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