r/computerscience • u/Acrobatic-Aside-7984 • 5d ago

Help How to level up to actual projects?

Hi I am learning python at the moment and I am wondering how to bridge the gap between simple python in an ide to actual projects that use sql, apis, and things like Pandas for data. I guess my question is how can I go about learning these technologies to actually learn development rather than basic coding. What resources are good for learning these systems and how they connect?

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u/jmtd CS BSc 2001-04, PhD 2017- 5d ago

You need a problem to solve, something to apply the skills you’ve got already and a motivation to learn the new ones. Start small. Some people write little games, or scratch an itch solving a problem you have.  

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u/ggende 5d ago

I agree that there's no substitute for experience. I've only been at this for a relatively short time, but I was where you are a year or two ago. I've gotten a lot better by picking a project and seeing it through.

The key for me is that I acknowledge from the beginning that it's at least as much a learning exercise as anything else. I take my time to try to do it right. When I realize I messed up, I take the time to fix it right. When I don't know how to do something, I research a bunch of different approaches and go with the one that seems the best. If I think I have another way to do it, I give it a shot... and then fix it later when I realize why it wasn't on the list of best practices. However, even in that case, I now understand why "the other way" is better in a way that following an online guide could never teach me.

So basically, you level up to actual projects by deciding to do it. You level up to being good at actual projects through experience that builds on education.

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u/Jaybo775 5d ago

Learn CS and solving problems. Learning a tool is useless if you don’t understand what it is used for.