Python: Technology is Magic 🧙‍🚀🌕

Brian Saturnino
Sep 3, 2018 · 8 min read

📖Table of Contents 📖

  1. Progress: #Failing the Test
  2. Progress: #Operator Similarities of JavaScript & Python
  3. Progress: #Frustrations with Indentation
  4. Discussion: #Atom vs Sublime
  5. Discussion: #Importance of Teaching
  6. Miscellaneous: #Comment Sections
  7. Closing Thoughts: #Technology is Magic

Use Ctrl+F and type in “#[Topic]”.

I’m aware not everyone can read the entirety of my post. By creating a table of contents and hashtags, you can view the content you’re interested in.

Module 2: Control Structures took 11 hours.

  • August 1, 2018 — 3 hours
  • August 2, 2018 — 4 hours
  • August 3, 2018–4 hours — Review

#Failing the Test 😢

I had to redo the entire module today because I scored a 34% on the exam. I believe the primary reason why I failed is that the first half was very similar to JavaScript, so I built a false sense of confidence as I was going through the material. By the time I reached the later half, concepts had become pretty tricky. It makes me realize that I still have not yet learned that one needs to carefully pay attention and craft their building blocks of knowledge before proceeding to the next level.

In other words, if I can’t understand the sample code, how can I do the quiz? If I can’t do the quiz, how much more for the proceeding lessons and the eventual exam? You can take this a step further. If you can’t do the exam, how much more when you have to apply the concepts in real life?

It’s okay though. There is no rush. I’m glad I failed. Failure is my greatest teacher. It’s the true test of life. By miserably failing, I have much more data to be successful the next time. Through this experience, I have formed a deeper insight that I must be much more careful when learning new material.

#Operator Similarities

Speaking about similarities, it’s amusing to see that many of the concepts I learned in JavaScript are similar in Python.

For example, an interesting one would be the logical operators.

This is JavaScript.
This is Python.

‘Both perform the same role, but it’s written differently. I prefer Python’s method because it uses words instead of symbols. When I was first learning JavaScript, the operators were biting my ass in the later modules. It took a while for me to understand it. When compared to Python, it’s straight-forward. Or is it because I’ve already technically learned it?’

#Frustrations of Indentations 😡💢

When the course introduced indentations, I spent two hours frustrated learning how to indent. Eventually, I got sick of it, so I installed an extension which solved the problem. Unfortunately, I got carried away with the Atom coding software. This is not within the study total as it relates to me screwing around and not making meaningful progress.

It was this sample code that I was trying to replicate for more than 30 minutes which frustrated me. I HATE indentation! When I searched on YouTube, there were no videos, and the search bars were returning, funnily enough, how annoying indentations are within Python.

My computer and I

#Atom

Short answer: Sublime. Hands down.

Note: I am a total noob. Heed my words with not a grain of salt but with a metric tonne.

The problem with Atom on my consumer-grade computer is that for some reason it’s a massive resource hog.

Atom has no extensions installed, and there’s not a single code running. Loading times take over 30 seconds whereas Sublime Text can open up in less than 3, handle my 30+ extensions, and easily handle CPU intensive tasks. Without the extensions, Sublime consumes 50 MBs of RAM. With Atom, for some stupid reason, I can’t install many extensions because it’s already slow enough as it is without it. Additionally, while trying to install Atom, it sometimes pops a message that a certain .dll is not appearing. I’ve reinstalled it FOUR TIMES because I really want to give it a chance, especially since it’s from the creators of GitHub, but it’s not making do. :(

Whatever Atom can do, Sublime can do it a lot better.

Goodbye, Atom.

Future Brian: August 3, 2018 — I’m still using Sublime. I don’t miss Atom at all.

(Medium readers, recall this was originally posted on August 3, 2018.)

#Importance

If you can recall from my final JavaScript post, I was discussing the importance of breaking down complicated code when stuck. For almost every line of code, I would type down what it means into something I can understand. By doing this, you can build a deeper understanding of the concepts you are learning.

As I was reviewing module two, I tried to do that for almost every single page. I would break down each sentence and line of code. For example, this is what I was doing when I was learning about lists:

After, I would post it inside the comment section to share.

There are incentives for doing this.

In terms of ranking incentives,

  1. You learn the material at a deeper level. It’s not mastery, but it goes from level 1 understanding to level 2.
  2. You can improve your teaching skills.
  3. You can share your explanations to the community.
  4. I’ve always liked helping people and sharing my knowledge.
  5. The community will be able to learn from you and give feedback.
  6. The community will provide you with likes and compliments to feed your vulnerable and insecure ego. Let’s not hide it.
  7. You will receive achievements. I tend to be a completionist in video games.

Although many of the most upvoted comments were posted years ago, you can always still add yours. Some comments have been published years later, yet they managed to rise over time. It’s kinda like “Oh, computer science has been around for hundreds of years. I cannot possibly add any more!” You definitely should even if you think it sucks. Some of the comments I’ve made which I thought sucked still got upvotes.

An alternative of sharing code is to share resources. I sometimes go online and reference material outside of the course such as helpful YouTube videos, articles, and websites. For example, a lot of the times the course does not give much relevancy in terms of utility. In order to overcome that, I would do an online search and type in “practicality of [concept]”, read it, and share.

The key here is that teaching and sharing knowledge is essential. Knowledge has the potential to change lives.

Miscellaneous & Filler: #Comment Section

It reminds me of hidden adult jokes in kid movies. 😂

It’s interesting that for every course I do, the amount of likes each comment increases. With CSS, the most liked comments are averaging within the 100 to 300 likes range. For JavaScript, it’s 500 to 1,000 range. With Python, I’m amazed when posts like the one above are receiving an excess of 2,000! It’s unheard of in all of the courses I took here on SoloLearn. Python is not even the most popular course. It’s C++.

I’m trying out a bunch of new ways to improve my blog. For example, I’m learning how to do very basic photo editing to create these headlines. I hope you like it. I’m still a noob, but as so long as I can improve by 1% each day, I think that’s all that matters. Continuous improvement over perfection. Be willing to fail a thousand times.

I’ll end off with with what amazed me the most: infinite while loops.

#Technology is Magic 🧙‍🚀🌕

I found three photos together and stitched them together. The last photo is from 2016!!!

The while loop is impressive. By typing this down, it prints a nearly infinite amount of code. If I so desire, it will keep printing until my computer dies. If my laptop were to be indestructible with infinite durability, it would keep printing until the entire multiverse ends. Endless calculation reminds me of NASA computers during the Apollo program and how our smartphones are millions of times much more advanced.

I need to keep this in mind. Our modern day technology can do such miraculous actions. For example, my computer allows me to communicate to almost anyone throughout the entire world at near the speed of light. People I will very likely never meet are reading this right now. Amazing!

https://www.nano.gov/nanotech-101/what/nano-size

If I were to travel back in time and give these NASA scientists my smartphone, they probably would be bowing down to me as if I was a technological god. It’s even much more extraordinary when you realize that NASA has existed for less than a lifetime. Its 60th anniversary was this year on July 29, 2018. It was founded in 1958. A person around in the 1950s can appreciate how much more powerful computational technology has evolved over the *last three generations* of our species. Who at that time in 1958 would ever conceive that computer circuits can be scaled down to the nanometer?!

As Elon Musk stated, engineering is the closest thing to magic. Instead of using the Internet to fill my mind with mindless yet exciting shit, what if I can use it to shift the course of the human race dramatically? What if?


Originally published at briansprogrammingsucks.quora.com on August 3, 2018.

Heavily updated on September 3, 2018. You can view the original here.

This post took more than 10+ hours for me to originally publish and 5+more for further editing. A lot of love goes into this. If you like my content, please show your appreciation by clapping, leaving a comment, or following me here on Medium or on my Twitter.

Brian's Programming Sucks

I'm an absolute total noob to the world of code. I post every two days to update my progress.

Brian Saturnino

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I have a dream.

Brian's Programming Sucks

I'm an absolute total noob to the world of code. I post every two days to update my progress.

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