a hobbyist's dilemma

[Gerard Flanagan]

John Salerno wrote:

> Now that I've learned much of Python, I'm sort of stuck with what to do
> with it. I'm not a professional programmer, so I don't really have a use
> for Python now. But I really want to come up with some neat uses for it
> (for fun, and so I don't just start forgetting it right after I learned it).
>
> I found a few exercises online, but I wonder if anyone has other ideas
> (or exercise websites) that I can use to keep my Python skills going.
> The projects in Dive Into Python are a little too complicated for me
> right now, I think. I kind of like doing functional stuff, because OOP
> still has my mind warped, and I love that Python lets you write programs
> without having to mess with classes.
>
> Anyway, any suggestions are appreciated!

Having worked (briefly) as a teacher and tutor, I know that a good way
of helping *oneself* to really understand something is thinking "Ok,
how would I explain this to someone else?"  It is also very rewarding
to pass on knowledge, and, in particular, to see a 'furrowed brow' turn
into 'Ah, I see!' (and even more satisfying if the student is not
strong academically). [that's possibly a bit rose-tinted...:-1]

So my suggestion would be to write some exercises yourself, something
that you think would be useful to someone with less knowledge of the
language than you.

Gerard