Learning Python for no reason

[Chuckk Hubbard]

I'm another one pretty early in his programming education, but here's my take.
Python was specifically recommended to me by a few people for a
specific program I wanted to write (userspace, GUI, music).  While I
gradually learn more about it, I start to spend a lot of time on
certain aspects I don't really need for this task.  I think curiosity
is one of the vital qualities for a programmer, and through mine, over
a few years, I've built up more and more understanding of what's going
on in my box, more than I set out to have, but I can't see how any of
this can be called wasted time if it rounds out my general
understanding.
On the other hand, as Python is about the second "serious" language
I've tried to learn (the others being web- or music- oriented, and I
didn't approach them as programming), I don't have much to compare it
to.  I was under the impression before reading your message that
Python was very popular and useful.  This list is far more active than
all the others to which I'm subscribed put together!  So, either it
doesn't seem like a silly endeavor to learn it for its own sake, or
they're using it for something.

If it is a silly endeavor, I'm going to have to ask you to stop this
thread, it's too silly.

-Chuckk

On Mon, May 12, 2008 at 8:27 PM, 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?
>
>  Hopefully this question even makes sense!
>
>
>  --
>  http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
>



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