Matthew Revell

I’m almost at the end of the third chapter of Dive Into Python. The first time I considered learning Python, my pal Stuart persuaded me to blog my experience. He was interested to know what might trip me up or what I felt could be better explained to people from a non-development background.

First time round, I dismissed Dive Into Python because it seemed to be aimed at people who were already familiar with code. The first page of chapter 2 – Your first Python program - reminded me why I felt that way. The first example starts with a comment and then this line:

return ";".join(["%s=%s" % (k, v) for k, v in params.items()])

Python fans talk about its readability. While I’m not disputing Python’s readability – I’m in no position to – that line means nothing to me and, in a weaker moment, would have sent me scurrying for something with a greater relevance to my experience.

I’m enjoying Dive Into Python. I’m surprised not to have dived into anything just yet – it’s all a bit abstract so far. However, its reasonably straightforward approach makes a refreshing change from Why’s (Poignant) Guide to Ruby which, although amusing at first, seemed irritatingly determined to avoid the subject.

A few years back, I toyed with learning Python. At the time, though, I had more pressing demands on my time and, reluctantly, gave up pretty soon in the process.

I’m not a natural developer. My mind seems to work more like the broad sweeps of an oil painting, rather than the fine watercolour detail necessary for thinking through algorithms. However, I’m pretty sure that with some work and practice I can retrain myself to think in the right way.

In the past, I’ve toyed with Basics (Spectrum, Jetsam and AMOS, mostly), learnt the bare bones of C, was mildly productive with PHP and, more recently, have been impressed by some aspects of Ruby. However, any coding I’ve done has always been lazy and, largely, cobbled together from examples.

So, armed with a link to Dive into Python and offers of support from my colleagues, I’m hoping to do it properly this time. Wish me luck