Python is fun (useless social thread) ;-)

[BartlebyScrivener]

>> Did you have to learn it for a job?

No.

>> Or did you just like what you saw and decided to learn it for fun?

Tried Perl first, but since I don't use it every day (sometimes don't
do anything but RUN scripts for weeks on end if I'm in a big project),
I would forget all of the Perl between learning sessions. Python seems
to be made of words, not symbols. Also, it seems to be a minimalist
language. I like that.

>> Also, how did you go about learning it?

I had no computer science background, just a long time Windows user.
The Guido tutorial moved way too fast. Alan Gauld's "Learning To
Program" was just right. From there, lurking on this group, and books.
Especially the Python Cookbook, as I don't normally 'get it' when
someone just describes theory or an abstraction, I also must see an
example. The examples in the Cookbook are useful and also come with
explanations about how they work. Same goes for this group. Nine times
out of ten, when people answer a question here, they toss off an
example or two, which is just what I need.

>> Was there any necessity in the specifics you learned, or did you just
>> dabble in something (e.g. wxPython) for fun?

I almost always have a task I want to do, e.g. search a database or
manipulate files. From there, I branch out and learn, even if it's not
part of the original task.

>> Are there still some things you feel you need to learn or improve?

I am not touching OO, classes, or GUIs until I understand EVERYTHING
else. Could take a few years. ;)

rd