How to learn Python

And anything really

I recently came across a question on Quora which I found to be particularly interesting:

I found it to be so interesting because of how little context was given and how open-ended it was.

They are having trouble learning Python 3, sure.

But what was confusing them? What was causing them trouble? What were they unable to understand which prompted them to ask such an open question?

Thinking about the question, I realized that they were really asking a much larger question. By not giving any of the context of what they are struggling with or what they can’t figure out, they were almost asking the question of “How do I learn a new skill?”

Sure, it appears to be a bit of a stretch to jump to a much broader question like that. However, when I went about answering this question, I realized that the way you go about learning Python 3 is really the way you go about learning almost any new skill: by starting small, exploring, fixing, breaking, and learning from your experiences and the experiences of others.

With that, this is how I answered:

Maybe try taking it back a few steps.

No matter what level of capabilities you have, there is a program you are capable of writing, and the more you write, break, fix, and read, the better you will become.

How about hello world:

Simple enough right?

Now take it a step further. Let’s get into some loops.

Now you can print hello world 10 times using a simple loop.

Now take it a step further. Let’s get into some user input.

This allows you to ask the user how many times to print hello world.

Now let’s take it a step further. How about a random number guessing game.

That demonstrates the use of while loops, comparative operators, and random numbers. Maybe we can add some complexity with some hints to the user.

Kind of cool, huh?

Maybe you’ve already written small programs like this, and you’re struggling with things like object orientation and threading.

Whatever the case is, the point is that you should start small and work upwards to expand your horizon of ability.

A common mistake among new programmers is to expect to build something like Black-Ops after learning for a few months, so they aim too high and end up discouraged by the difficulties and complexities they uncover.

Instead, start at a level you understand, and gradually increase the complexity of the problems you are solving and the systems you are building.

In fact, you’ll find this is applicable in a lot more circumstances than just learning Python. Hope this helps!

By reading that answer, you hopefully understand better what I was saying in the beginning.

Ultimately, learning to program should be like learning to do anything else. And in the end nothing can beat the best teacher of all: experience.

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