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Rant: I tried learning Python with a book and then switched to a free online course. The difference was huge.
I spent six weeks trying to learn from a big, popular Python book. It was full of words and felt like reading a manual. I got stuck on loops for days and almost quit. Then I tried the free 'Python for Everybody' course online. It had short videos, real problems to solve right away, and a forum where you could ask questions. In two weeks with the course, I built a small program that could sort my grocery list. The book told me about coding, but the course let me actually do it. The hands-on practice made everything click. Has anyone else found that just reading about code doesn't work as well as building something, even something simple?
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the_kevin2mo agoMost Upvoted
You're right about the hands-on practice. I always tell people to skip the long books and start building something small right away.
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the_jake2mo ago
What if I'm the one who wrote the long books? Asking for a friend.
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alicec861mo ago
Four years of my life went into writing a novel back in my twenties... never got published, just sits in a drawer now. It's a weird feeling when you put that much time into something and nobody really knows about it. I get why you'd ask for a friend... that kind of project becomes part of who you are. Takes real guts to even finish something that long, whether it sees the light of day or not. Sometimes I think the writing itself is what matters more than what happens with it after.
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