Python for Everyone: Mastering Python the right way

#python #beginners #tutorial

Python is a very important language and we cannot overemphasize how important it is to learn it. In this article, I'll shed light on how to master python the right way. Like any other art, there is the right way to learn and master python. Foundational things have to come up first followed by advanced the professional skills are put in place. There are myriads of ways to learn python and
it all depends with the one learning entirely. It is hard to esteem some ways of learning above others. Seemingly, there is a pattern, a roadmap, that provides the best strategy of mastering python while maximizing time.

I'll discuss the four important steps to take in mastering python which are:

Learn the basics of python.
Identify why you want to learn python.
Choose an online course.
Create milestones.

1. Learn the basics of python.

Learning the basics of any programming language can be challenging and you'll be tempted to skip and go for the "complex" stuff
but just don't rush yourself. It's possible to learn things very fast but in order for something to be stored in you long term
memory, this is something you do, repeatedly, consistently and deliberately. Don't procrastinate, don't rush and skip courses. There are many resources shared in this article for basics of python. My first article . You can also watch the following video to get more about python basics

2. Identify why you want to learn python.

In this article, Introduction to python, we talked about how python is a choice programming language and its advantages. This and more information
is a quick step in determining that python is the language you want to learn. Your purpose for choosing python is an elementary
tool, you must be acquainted with why you want to learn python. This will be a motivation and also it will give you direction
on which materials to use while learning. Python is widely used and as a beginner you must narrow down and begin from the basics
following through your purpose; what you want to do with python.
Though it is possible to learn all of them, it's crucial to choose one and work on that one until you are ready to learn the next. It's not advisable to try all of them at the same time.
Majorly, Python is used in these three fields of development;

i. Web development

Python is used to build backends of websites. It is comprised of frameworks that make this process fast and simple. A framework in programming is a tool that provides ready-made components or solutions that are customized in order to speed up development.
There are several frameworks in python. One thing to note though is that there is no better framework than the other, you choose
a framework based on the kind of task you want to do and the community that backs that framework. Each framework is built for different tasks. Every framework has a documentation, this is a website or community containing the release notes or rather tutorials. They are for reference and research when working on a project or studying and you should not try to memorize them.
The three most common frameworks for web development are:

Django

Django is a high-level Python web framework that encourages rapid development and clean, pragmatic design. Django documentation

Flask

Flask is a micro web framework written in Python. It is classified as a microframework because it does not require particular tools or libraries. Flask documentation

FastAPI

FastAPI is a modern, fast (high-performance), web framework for building APIs with Python 3.6+ based on standard Python type hints. FastAPI documentation

ii. AI and Machine Learning

Artificial intelligence is a technology that enables a machine to simulate human behavior. Machine learning is a subset of AI which allows a machine to automatically learn from past data without programming explicitly. Data Science and data analysis also falls in this docket. Python has also modules and libraries that make this process vary easy. Since machine learning involves the use of a lot of data
python has modules like;

pandas,
numpy,
matplotlib
tensor flow

iii. Game Development

Python is also used for game development. Python language has proved to be an exceptional choice by the developers for rapid prototyping of video games. Here you'll come across the following python libraries for building graphical
user interfaces(GUI) and games:

turtle
tkinter
pygame

3. Choose an online course

After identifying why you want to learn python and what you want to build using python, I'll guide you through the courses available online that will catapult your progress. The mode of learning this courses is entirely up to you, you can use videos or documentations or both.

There are websites that provide online courses for free like

freecodecamp

There are courses on udemy:

This course is for machine learning, i contains all the necessary skills for python to get you started in machine learning and
AI. Python for Data Science and Machine Learning Bootcamp
This course will take you through web development using the django framework. Development
Web Development
Django
Python and Django Full Stack Web Developer Bootcamp

There are also books containing information on development, like;

Game Development with Python for game developers.
Python tricks A buffet of awesome python features
The Python Workshop starts by showing you how to correctly apply Python syntax to write simple programs, and how to use appropriate Python structures to store and retrieve data. You'll see how to handle files, deal with errors, and use classes and methods to write concise, reusable, and efficient code. The Python Workshop

-By the end of the book, you will have a thorough understanding of how to think about and apply object-oriented principles using Python syntax and be able to confidently create robust and reliable programs.
Python Object-Oriented Programming - Fourth Edition