Learning Python for no reason

[Matthew Woodcraft]

John Salerno <johnjsal at NOSPAMgmail.com> wrote:
> Just something that crosses my mind every time I delve into "Learning 
> Python" each night. Does anyone see any value in learning Python when you 
> don't need to for school, work, or any other reason? I mean, sure, there's 
> value in learning anything at any time, but for something like a programming 
> language, I can't help but feel that I will be mostly unable to use what I 
> learn simply because I have no reason to use it.

> The *process* of learning is enough fun for me, and every now and then I do 
> find a small use for Python that really pays off, but for the most part I'm 
> wondering what people's thoughts are as far as simply learning it for the 
> sake of learning. Does it seem like a silly endeavor to most people? Did 
> anyone here learn a programming language when you didn't need to? If so, how 
> much and in what capacity did you use it after you learned it?

I can't tell from what you wrote whether you feel you won't have any
reason to do any programming, or whether you already know several other
programming languages and you feel you won't have any reason to use
Python in particular.

If it's the former, I don't think you need to worry. If you ever find
yourself doing a repetitive task using a computer, or find that you're
using a program which does nearly-but-not-quite what you want, there
are good chances that there'll be a way to write a program to help.

-M-