How do I learn Python in depth?
Answer from https://www.quora.com/How-do-I-learn-Python-in-depth
I have been programming in Python since the past 8 years now.
Here is how I feel anyone should go about learning Python.
Note: I am assuming you are a complete beginner hence I would reccomend to start tight from the basic syntax. In case you are already familiar with some of the Python concepts then feel free to skip and move to the next point.
1. Getting started:
This includes how you should choose an appropriate version, how to setup the code environment , how to set the Python path etc. Before you start coding you do need to get Python installed on your machine.
2. Learning the basic syntax:
The best place to start learning about the syntax of the language would the Python’s official documentation. Learn how code indentation is important and other basics Here is the link 3.6.4 Documentation
3. Control structures:
Once you know the basic syntax, you can now move ahead to understand control structures and loops like the for loop. It is relatively simple and easier to understand.
4. List, Tuples & Dictionaries:
Once you get familiar with the control structures and loops, its now time to learn data structures which makes Python a special language. They are lists, tuples and dictionaries. I would say they are one of the most widely used data structures in the language and must be given close attention to. Once you understand them well consider you have already learned at least half of the language.
5. Python libraries:
Python has a set of thousands of libraries available to choose as per your requirement. You can simply import those in your code and implement almost any kind of complex functionality without having to write much code. Want to perform any important task such as modifying data on excel sheet or any other complex task there is a library for it which you can use. These libraries make Python one of the most powerful languages and also helps keep the code clean.
6. Cool web frameworks:
Python has a number of cool web frameworks like Django & Flask. There are others are well but these two are the most popular ones and are my favorite.
Django is a free and open-source web framework, written in Python, which follows the model-view-template (MVT) architectural pattern. You can learn more about Django at their official website. Django also have their very own set of free tutorial series where they teach you how to build your very own Django app right from scratch. Here is the link to the tutorial: Writing your first Django app, part 1
Flask is also a web framework similar to Django but is consider to be a lot flexible, lightweight and supports customization. One thing to note here is that both Django and Flask are backend frameworks and need to be combined with some frontend frameworks like Bootstrap and do require a basic understanding of HTML & a bit of CSS.
7. Data analysis libraries:
Numpy and Pandas are two Python libraries which you can work with if you want to enter the data science domain. These two libraries offer flexible data structures to manipulate data and perform analysis. They also provide many built-in functions which allows us to manipulate and handle data.
8. Work on projects:
Once you have a decent level of understanding and experience with Python, you then need to start making your own simple projects. These projects don’t need to be super complex but they could be anything like a simple calculator or an alarm clock. As you feel comfortable you can gradually raise the complexity of projects which is really going to help you enhance your skill set.
Hope this helps.
Thank you!
Recommended learning resources:
Writing your first Django app, part 1
The Complete Python Masterclass: Learn Python From Scratch
Google:
Top 10 Machine Learning Courses
Data Science from Scratch: First Principles with Python
Learning to Program Using Python, 2nd Edition