[Newbie] How do I get better at Python programming?

[Roy Smith]

In article <7x8y47ov91.fsf at ruckus.brouhaha.com>,
 Paul Rubin <http://phr.cx@NOSPAM.invalid> wrote:

> Anon <anon at yahoo.com> writes:
> > I'd like to get to the next level, but I'm not sure how.  Are there
> > any suggestions for continuing to learn?  How did you guys learn?
> 
> I'd say look at some more general computer science books, maybe not
> Python based.  

This is excellent advice.  Software is really about algorithms.  
Programming languages are just a way to implement those algorithms.  But, 
baby steps first.  My suggestion would be:

1) Find some problems in your daily life that you want to solve, and start 
writing Python programs to solve them (keep in mind, however, that not all 
problems in life can be solved with software).

2) Hang out on this group and ask good questions (see 
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html for some hints on how to 
do that).

3) After you've spent 6 months or so mastering Python, go learn another 
language.  Which one?  I don't know, there are so many good (and bad) 
choices.  Java, I guess.  Maybe C# or Visual Basic, or even C++.  The 
particular choice of which is not so important as the decision to learn 
another one.  It's not so much that it's better or worse than Python, but 
that it's different, and in experiencing the differences you will gain 
insight into what both of them have in common.

4) Here's the hard part.  Every year, for the rest of your programming 
career, learn another language.  Some languages you will learn because they 
lead to paychecks.  Some you will learn because they're cool and different 
and it's worth exploring the corners of the envelope.  Each one will teach 
you something new about programming.