My First Slither into Python
Today I embarked on a whole new journey. A couple of weeks ago I enrolled in a Udemy course called Learn Python Programming Masterclass, it’s hosted by Tim Buchalka and Jean-Paul Roberts who have 60 plus years of combined programming experience and is basically a top to bottom Python programming course. This evening I finally wrote my first few lines of Python. It felt amazing, like entering a whole new world of programming possibilities. In this blog I want to briefly go over what motivates me to keep learning new code, and why I chose to learn Python out of the dozens of languages out there.
So why learn another language when you already code? One of the biggest parts of successful as a programmer is staying up with an ever-growing industry. After graduating from Flatiron School’s software engineering bootcamp, I wanted to keep the momentum I had going to keep learning and building my skillset. At the same time, I had begun searching for a software engineering job, and I noticed many of the job listings I was looking at wanted familiarity with a variety of languages and wanted developers who were enthusiastic about learning new code and growing their skillset. All these factors drove me to keep learning new code and growing as a programmer.
Why Python? One of my biggest reasons for choosing to learn Python was that it is similar to languages I already use. Python is an Object Oriented, interpreted language, just like Ruby and JavaScript, two languages I am already well acquainted with. This means that many structures and concepts in Python are already familiar to me, which makes Python much easier for me to pick up. Starting off learning a language that won’t be too difficult is a good way to get used to learning new languages without plunging in at the deep end. Another reason I chose Python was that it is desirable. After looking at dozens of job listings I noticed that Python was one of the most common languages requested for developers to know. Knowing that adding to my Python to my skillset would help open many new opportunities for me was a definitely a big factor in my choice and made me super excited to start learning. Plus, who wouldn’t want to learn a language named after Monty Python’s Flying Circus!
