Week 2 Update

The site launched yesterday, but in reality, I’m 2 weeks into the process. I will outline the long-term plan in another post, but for now, I turned to Codecademy (I subscribed to PRO) to learn the basics of Python. I’m currently on the Python 3course and progressing well.

This will give me an understanding of the basics and an introduction to the language, how to think like a programmer and see if I’m really cut out for this journey. I’ve done martial arts all my life and am a key advocate of discipline and consistency when it comes to acquiring a new skill. Working on building my Python knowledge and becoming comfortable with the language is the very first step.

For the past 2 weeks, I’ve been piling in as many hours as possible. The more comfortable I get with the code, the faster the basics will start to fall into place.

People always laugh when I say this, but I love excel. Some of the formula structure has helped me progress throughout the Python course, but as I get into Dictionaries, Files and Classes – progress has slowed.

I’ve got through 70% of the course in 2 weeks but there’s a lot of new concepts and syntax that needs to be drilled in. Even if I can’t remember everything at once my knowledge of what is possible is growing and this is half the battle. I’m also having a big issue getting my head around LOOPS and will be focusing on this in the upcoming weeks.

Practice needs to be at the edge of your comfort zone and I’m enjoying the new challenges but it’s not easy. The course suddenly takes a turn where you’re learning multiple new code and syntax in every lesson. Anyway, piece by piece it will come together.

Something I’ve found very useful to split up my day is a Pomodoro timer. I’ve been a productivity freak for much of my life (part of this blog and journey is to automate more of my tasks) but I’ve never given this a serious go. With work and a bunch of other commitments, a slick Pomodoro addon for my MacBook has been invaluable.

Something else I’d also like to mention here is what Python life will be like off-platform and away from Codecademy. I’ve setup the system on my mac but it is still a very unfamiliar interface. Once I’ve finished this course I will head straight into actionable projects and see what I can do with my newfound knowledge in a ‘real life’ scenario.

T3B