[Tutor] update a list

[dn]

> From where are you finding these problems, or what do you intend to do with the results?


On 12/10/2020 00:33, Manprit Singh wrote:
> Dear Sir ,
> 
> Let me tell you, i am still in learning stage , i started learning python
> some 7-8 months back, basically an electronics engineer and have experience
> of around 10 years  the field of electronics and found python to be very
> clean and clear language, also it has a good ecosystem of scientific works,
> like numpy pandas and scipy, i feel i can carry my engg. calculations very
> well in python .
> 
> I beg apology if something has gone wrong with me, so as a curious learner
> I put questions in the mailing list.  As far as python list is concerned i
> know it is not advised to update a list, it is always good to create a new
> list. instead See people like you are helping me a lot in learning Python.
> 
> Thank you for your support.


You will find some explanation for the question in my follow-up to @Alex.

After 'neglecting' the Python list for some weeks?months, working 16x7 
(+) on an 'urgent community-health problem' - which is probably also 
affecting your locality (stay safe!), I've come 'back' to see a number 
of similar, fairly academic, questions - and wondered why? Perhaps a 
series of student-assignments you face? Perhaps you're writing a book? I 
was intrigued...not that you were doing anything "wrong"!
(it's not my place to judge you/your motivations!)


Like you, I came to Python from 'elsewhere', and have found it very 
accessible and yet powerful. So, welcome to the gang!

Rather than finding these vague problems to solve - which I have 
characterised (elsewhere) as somewhat 'academic'; why don't you instead 
choose a problem in your own field, and in solving that, 
learn/teach-yourself enough Python, and python technique, to achieve? 
You will still find questions to ask (yourself, the list, ...), and be 
satisfying some engineering/electronics aim, at the same time!

Some people feel that they have to 'get good' in a programming language 
before 'starting work' with it. This is not the Python-way - happily 
enough! Python has been, as we have both discovered, designed well. 
Accordingly, one can simply 'start work'...

There is a very famous quote in ComSc (Computer Science) circles that 
has been around since the days of mainframe computers and 
batch-processing: "be prepared to throw the first one away" (Fred 
Brooks, "The Mythical Man-Month"). The Python coder's version might be: 
'be prepared to refactor', ie improve the quality of the code/solution, 
as you develop, as you learn, as you implement, as you clarify the 
specification, as you realise the implications of your coding choices...


As far as learning goes, we are ("should" - IMHO) all, always learning. 
That's why people like myself, and @Alan (ListAdmin) enjoy being 'here' 
- there are questions which remind us of 'stuff' we haven't ever used or 
haven't used in a long time, or cause us to look at problems in a 
different way to our own view, and generally stretch our 
minds/imaginations. Thanks!


PS some do criticise conversations 'here' with top-posted responses. 
Conversations normally proceed with a question first, and the answer 
following. (see how I added my original question of you, at the top of 
this message, then there's your response, and below the latest addition)
-- 
Regards =dn