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Surround Yourself With Others Who Are Learning

11 Beginner Tips for Learning Python Darren Jones 02:08

Though coding may seem like a solitary activity, it works best when you work together. It’s extremely important when you’re learning to code in Python that you surround yourself with other people who are learning as well. This will allow you to share the tips and tricks you learn along the way.

Don’t worry if you don’t know anyone. There are plenty of ways to meet others who are passionate about learning Python! Find local events or Meetups or join PythonistaCafe, a peer-to-peer learning community for Python enthusiasts like you!

00:00 Surround Yourself With Others Who Are Learning. Surrounding yourself with others who are learning is important in any area where you’re trying to learn a new skill, but particularly in programming because the skills are fairly unusual compared to many others in everyday life.

00:17 There’s many ways you can do this. Firstly, local events and Meetups.

00:23 A quick internet search will find if there are any Meetups near you that you can go along to. If there are, you’ll be able to meet up, find people that you can contact either on- and off-line afterwards, and help boost your learning process.

00:39 Another great site is the PythonistaCafe. This is a community of like-minded individuals who are all Python programmers, all interested in improving their skills, and all interested in helping the community. Follow the link for details.

00:55 Next, PyCon—the annual mecca for Pythonistas. However, if you can’t get to the main PyCon, there may well be a local one to you. For instance, I attended PyCon UK last year, and it was a great way to meet people, improve my skills, but also learn that I already had skills which I’d taken slightly for granted. Now that brings me on to the last point, which is imposter syndrome—something that I felt when I first went to PyCon UK.

01:25 It’s that feeling that you don’t know enough to be in the room that you’re in, and somebody’s going to give you a quick test and then throw you out for not knowing enough. In my experience with the Python community, this never happens. Nearly everybody who programs Python loves the language, but also has enough humility to remember that they were a beginner once too, and they’re really, really helpful. If you’re weak in a certain area, they want to help you rather than show up what you don’t know. Also, you may find in situations like this, you actually have more skills in some areas than you may have thought! Everybody has a different set of skills, and you’ll have strengths where others have weaknesses.

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