Any advice on learning Python?

Like the title says. I need to up my game so I can move into the API doc space. That's where the real money is in Tech Writing. 

In reply to z31maniac :

There are a number of free online courses, including w3schools.com which has been around since I studied html and Netscape Navigator was the most popular browser.  Ah, good times!

Edit:  Now I see that W3schools may not be related to W3C.  The internet is a confusing place. 

Nevertheless, there are free online courses available.

I've had really good luck with EDx as an online education resource.

I've taken classes over the years from there to remain relevant in Tech. I have also encouraged my nephews to as well to learn about different things. 

I've found it the best free resource out there. 

When I first learned how to code, the best thing I did was find mock problems online that had step by step answers. I would try to figure them out alone and then check the final steps afterwards to see what they did and what I could have done differently. Repetition is key. Find the most basic problems ever, repeat those till you're sick of them and then move on. This is a good way to learn alone before attending classes. 

I recently took a class in Python as part of my degree program at the local university.  INF120, I think it was.  If you need a formal training of some sort, you could look at something like that.  It sounds like you're not starting from scratch though - I had already done work in Java, javascript, PHP, Perl, and other languages so a lot of what the basic Python class taught was stuff I already knew.  As previously mentioned, the w3schools site was great for me to jump in and teach myself how to complete the assignments, skipping the dumbed-down and previous-version stuff they had in the online text that we used.

Check if your employer subscribes to LinkedIn Learning.  I haven't used it for Python, but I have been using it for other things -- currently trying to do a bunch of CompTIA BS certs since the college will accept those in lieu of having to take certain classes -- and there have been great resources available there.

Another resource that would probably be great for getting self-taught would be the Learning Python book from O’Reilly.  I assume they still sell physical books?  Back in "The Day", that was the best way to pick up something new.  I damned near wore out my copy of the Camel Book and still will grab it off the shelf when I need a quick refresher on regex syntax or something.

In reply to wae :

Yeah, we have LinkedIn learning, also Coursera. But both are tracked, so I don't want them to know I'm using the stuff to find another gig. From the stuff I've seen advertised, getting into API docs would be a massive raise. Like tens of thousands type raise. 

Check Khan academy? It's been a few years since I've gone through their setup, but I think Python was offered. The java classes, while they didn't stick because I didn't use it, were intuitive to follow.

In reply to RevRico :

Thanks for the suggestion!

Have you done any real programming before?  "How do I learn python?" and "How do I learn programming?" are not the same question.

The three most obvious answers are in-person classes (local junior college is a great choice like wae says), online classes, or just screwing around with it on your own.  What method works best for you in general?  Are online classes a win because of the convenience, or do you benefit from the structure of an in-person class?

In reply to codrus (Forum Supporter) :

How would you suggest one start "screwing around with it on your own"?

In reply to codrus (Forum Supporter) :

No, not really. I have a bare knowledge of HMTL and CSS from converting a couple of companies to MadCap.

mtn said:

In reply to codrus (Forum Supporter) :

How would you suggest one start "screwing around with it on your own"?

mtn said:

How would you suggest one start "screwing around with it on your own"?

If you already know how to program but just haven't used python before, then it's fairly straightforward.  Download/install the compiler, grab some already-existing python code that you want to tweak, and start hacking on it.  The online documentation is great and will let you look up what the unfamiliar library functions and other constructs do.  Python has more than its fair share of weird quirks (the "Pythonista" community is a little absurd), but it's fundamentally just another procedural/OO language like C/C++/Java/perl/etc and it doesn't take long to become productive with it if you've got experience with those.

If you haven't done any real programming before then, well, it's pretty much the same except you'll spend a LOT more time floundering around totally confused.  It's what I and other friends did as teenagers in the 80s because there weren't a lot of other options at the time, but I don't recommend it.  A structured intro-to-programming course will do a much better job of teaching you basic concepts like what functions are and when to use them, the different types of loop control, the difference between variables and pointers/references, what "object oriented" means, etc.

Yeah it's very straightforward, the big difference between python and most languages is space-sensitivity. When you indent code in Python it's not just to keep it looking tidy, there's a functional difference.

Also as someone who knows Python, HTML, CSS, JS, PHP, SQL, C/C++, shell/bash scripts, batch scripts, and a little Powershell and VB and can't get an interview for anything, if you know of any API documentation jobs that would be available to a Canadian, PM me.

I took this course and its well done and fun.  It culminates with programming your own Asteroids clone

An Introduction to Interactive Programming in Python (Part 1) | Coursera


Some things I will figure out on my own stumbling around, but it has to be something I'm encouraged to use daily.  If I am trying to prep before that point, I find a course of some sort to be most helpful.

When I took this it had weekly milestones (which I prefer) and wasn't a 100% at-your-own pace course.

This site has a lot of good info for beginners: Automate the Boring Stuff With Python

I used it to put together a couple useful scripts at work.

Thanks everyone for all the suggestions. 

I really like codrus's answer.  That is what I would do.

For another option, take a look at programming for MBAs type courses.  They are designed to get people up and running as quickly as possible to customize complex systems to read data, work with APIs, and other things that project management types are expected to do.  The goal isn't to set the world on fire with your code.  The goal is to get in and out without asking for help on simple tasks.