pip intro Python: Hold the Spam

I decided on Python for my first deep-dive language because:

1) It's simple to read
2) has extensive libraries and a vibrant community
3) Lots of learning material from video courses to technical and theoretical books
4) And yes, Monty Python!

My first course on Udemy was Tim Buchalka's "Python Complete Masterclass". The course was about 40 hours (more now with added content I haven't gone through yet) and, like Bob Tabor's style, was a mix of explaining what's to be done and then getting in and coding it.

Tim's course was a great introduction to lay solid foundations for programming. We went through the basics including program flow, lists, binary, dictionaries, I/O, Modules, Functions, OOP, and even into some intermediate level Database work. Far more detail than I had done with the basic C#/VB courses. Yet still it wasn't enough!

What about servers? How do we go online? How and why do we decide how a piece of code is designed? I could copy code into the terminal and run it, but I still didn't feel confident that I could think up code on my own. It was still monkey-see monkey-do, albeit in greater detail.

Looking back on some of my attempts at the code challenges for this course in 2017, I could instantly see how confused my thinking was. Luckily thinking more "Pythonicly" and pragmatically has helped to clear simple misconceptions since then. I now better understand the saying that the computer is only as good as the instruction we give it.

I knew 40 hours of video material still wasn't enough to be a code master. So I dove in deeper. A friend of mine kept buzzing about "data science" and "machine learning" - the "future" of programming. I went back to Udemy and signed up for 2 Machine Learning/Data Science courses with Frank Kane and Jose Portilla in addition to some data structures and algorithms courses with Holczer Balasz.

I wanted stronger foundations and cutting edge technology. Was I biting off more than I could chew?