On 1/8/2010 12:15 AM, galaxywatc...@gmail.com wrote:
This is my first post to the Python tutor list and I just wanted to
introduce myself and give a little background on my skill level prior to
asking for Python advice and programming tips. I am relatively new to
Python, but I have been dabbling with unix shell scripting for at least
10 years. I can construct powerful one liners using awk, sed, cut, uniq,
sort, grep, etc. I definitely know my way around the unix file system. I
use vim with various plugins, and I feel like I am the eternal unix
student, constantly evolving my skills, but never reaching mastery. I
have worked my way slightly past the novice level with Perl, but I never
felt that I made the breakthrough that I needed to feel proficient
enough to do anything serious with it.
Python feels different. I have the gut instinct that I can really
develop my skill set to do great things with the language. By great, I
mean, that I can take an idea, a big idea even, and efficiently
transform that idea into a software reality. I really want to master
this language. I am reading two books at the moment and working through
the exercises: Dive into Python by Mark Pilgrim, and Python Programming
- An Introduction to Computer Science by Zelle. I have ideas that I want
to develop, I put the books down and start scripting, but I always seem
to hit a wall based on my lack of knowledge, so I pick up the books
again and continue reading.
I suggest you read the official tutorial: http://docs.python.org/tutorial/
Since you have prior experience, you should be able to finish the
tutorial in a 2-3 days or less. Don't start having any fancy ideas at
first, at least not until you finished chapter 9; where you will have
been fully introduced to most of python's core features.
Chapter 10 and 11 is an introduction for the most commonly used standard
libraries; you could save a lot of time from having to reinvent the
wheel just by reading the standard modules described there.
Don't forget about the built-in help() and the REPL shell.
> I often wish that I had a private tutor or a
> Python guru that I could just ask how to get past a certain wall.
> Perhaps this list has that person or people on it. With that said, I
> look forward to participating with the Python tutors here.
No, this list does not "have that person"; the list is "that person".
Just write about the wall you've just stumbled upon.
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