10.29.21
What is Python? What can you do with it? Why is it so popular? Why can it do that other programs can’t?
Python is world fastest growing programming language and it is not reserved for the software engineers and video game developers, as I thought. Kids are also taking part in learning this new language. When I first became interested and asked about it, someone told me that kids nursery rhymes spoke in this language, or more like we can program this language to speak children’s’ songs. For example, if you took the only changing words to the song “Old McDonald Had a Farm” this would be this language of coding. Changing what sound goes with what animal is mentioned is this language. Mind blown! This was my introduction to this language and it helped me understand the basics and imagine the depth of its possibilities.
Of course many other disciplines use this language. Folks working on visualization and data analysis, artificial intelligence and machine learning, automation, etc. Automation is one of the largest uses of Python amongst non-software developers. A great way to understand this is by imagining the redundancy of coping files, naming them, uploading them to a server, this can all be written on Python to automate this process. Of course this sounds great, but I quickly realized the real negative effects of this on the job market and human labor. The machines, by way of human coding, are taking over! These borings tasks, which are real people’s jobs, can be done by computers. That’s a scary thing. But it is where we are headed. The uncritical notion that python, coding, this new computer language, etc just “makes life easier” is concerning.
I participated in the October 29th workshop on Python and found out a lot more about it. A few of the things that i learned was that programming is a lonely journey. It is self-directed and driven by self-interest. Running the script, which we downloaded, was what the instructor told us was going to apparently be the hardest part about the workshop. We followed the basics downloading the script, opening the software and uploading files. We learned that MAC and PC/Windows are very different and that this makes the teaching of these softwares difficult for instructors. Our instructor had to show us for to open and upload files from each since our workshop was split.
In terms of the actual code, we learned some basics about editing simple text in the built-in program and that the different colors is only for simplification. Our instructor was very encouraging. Ja. He kept throwing these phrases that seemed kinda meta. “Face what you don’t understand and make meaning out of it.” I thought it a great touch to this complicated language learning process. I think instructors know that it is very easy to just give up on something so simple–too simple–that it becomes too tidious and doesn’t seem like it has many rewards, specially if all your are doing it coding and not really taking the project or job outside of that realm.
My take aways were as follows: What is the big deal about Python?
- You can solve complex problems faster and with fewer steps. For example, C# and Javascript, other competing software programs, use longer code or more complex language to do the same thing. Python just makes things easier by being smaller/taking up less space.
C++: str.Substring(0, 3)
Javascript: str.substr(0, 3)
Python: str[0:3]
2. Python is also a “High Level” language so we don’t have to worry about complex tasks, like managing memory.
3. It’s “Cross-Platform” which means that we can run it on Mac, PC, etc,
4. It is the most popular so there is huge community to tap into
5. It is huge! and old. Almost 20 years old. So there is a lot of stuff that’s already happened to it and that people have created with it. This is very useful for beginners. It’s also great that anything you can do with Python is transferable knowledge for other programs. So, starting with Python before finding out what your job, career, or project demands is never a bad decision. Employers mostly look for Python knowledge as a basis for getting hired.
I am not sure Python or any of this language appeals to me just yet but I am glad I participated and learned its most basic functions. I now have an idea of what it means and how it can be used.
