good taught courses for Python

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 oliwarlow 14 Jan 2021

Hi, 

I was wondering if anyone has any recommendations for taught courses in Python? 

As an engineer/academic I have a strong background in procedural/functional paradigms having used matlab for almost 20yrs, but I have always dabbled in Python (and some other languages) and have done a few online self lead modules in basics and some specific topics.  I have some CPD budget from work this year and wondered if investing in a proper taught course might be good.  Not only to have someone to fire questions at, but also I find setting a date in the calendar for a course, means I actually dedicate some time to it rather than fitting in various self lead online modules here and there. 

cheers

Oli. 

In reply to oliwarlow:

I ended up on a learning tree one years ago. Between being booked onto it and doing the course I'd taught myself most of the content.
It was a good course. Very generic as you'd expect so didn't really give me enough of what I wanted and sort of wasted 2 days talking about stuff I didn't. It was well taught but it moved at the pace of the slowest student, which can be very slow and so get very annoying. Especially if you have experience in the concepts from other languages. Day 1 is invariably wasted on any programming course if you know what an array is.
Not sure I'd recommend going on a course unless someone is throwing money at you to do it, which sounds like the case. As you say it does make you actually sit down and do it, so if that's what you need it's a good plan.

Post edited at 12:25
 wintertree 14 Jan 2021
In reply to oliwarlow:

Is there a u/g Computational Physics course in your local Physics department that you can sit in on?  A 10-lecture course with workshops can take most students from "Hello World" to some pretty complex stuff.

Coming form Matlab, it's a day or two's work to pick up fluency in Python working through the online tutorial from python.org.

The power tools in the Python ecosystem are really the various scientific computing packages, and that's where I'd suggest you look for taught content - that depends on what you're doing, but Jupyter, numpy, scipy and matplotlib are likely to be at the core of it.

I don't think I'd recommend a paid course; it's more a case of picking a pet project to motivate you through learning the parts of the language you need and giving you a reason to Do It - the best way of learning IMO.  I can't think of any current topics that lend themselves to using Python and it's scientific and plotting ecosystem...

Post edited at 12:31
OP oliwarlow 14 Jan 2021
In reply to wintertree:

thanks both, sounds a bit like what I expected.  Once you have gone passed the basics it is hard to actually find a course that teaches the specifics of what you need!  

Yeah I am kinda torn about actually paying for a course, not really the money (company happy to pay) but whether it is the best use of my time.  just thoughts I would put it out there as a question

O.

In reply to oliwarlow:

Best way to learn a new language is to need it for something.

 marsbar 14 Jan 2021
In reply to oliwarlow:

Can you pay for tuition rather than a specific course maybe?  

OP oliwarlow 14 Jan 2021
In reply to Longsufferingropeholder:

ha yes, problem is normally I need to do something for me right now..in which case I just use a language I already know and can sort it quickly.  Need to invest a bit more upfront time to get more fluent in python then can use it for more projects and hence get better at it.

 mutt 14 Jan 2021
In reply to wintertree:

Yes what wintergreen said. I recommend getting the essential python reference fromdavid m beazley ,  addison wesley. It has a compact tutorial that covers all the pythonic language features and then the API for all the common libraries. The python ecosystem is huge but it's fairly easy to learn how to program pythonically. Stackoverflow will fill in the gaps if you are that way in inclined but don't use it until you can sort the wheat from the chaff. 


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