Learning Python for no reason

[Brian Vanderburg II]

John Salerno wrote:
> Just something that crosses my mind every time I delve into "Learning 
> Python" each night. Does anyone see any value in learning Python when you 
> don't need to for school, work, or any other reason? I mean, sure, there's 
> value in learning anything at any time, but for something like a programming 
> language, I can't help but feel that I will be mostly unable to use what I 
> learn simply because I have no reason to use it.
>
> The *process* of learning is enough fun for me, and every now and then I do 
> find a small use for Python that really pays off, but for the most part I'm 
> wondering what people's thoughts are as far as simply learning it for the 
> sake of learning. Does it seem like a silly endeavor to most people? Did 
> anyone here learn a programming language when you didn't need to? If so, how 
> much and in what capacity did you use it after you learned it?
>
> Hopefully this question even makes sense! 
>
>
> --
> http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
>   
I think almost anyone especially if frequently uses computer could 
benefit from learning a scripting language.  I'm mainly a C and C++ 
person and most of my programs use it.  But when I want to do a simple 
one-time task or something that will change frequently I'll use a 
scripting language to quickly get it done, such as extracting 
information from a web page or whatever.  With C, C++, and Python I do 
just about whatever I want/need, and they can be combined/embedded as 
well.  In general I think that learning some basics of programming can 
help develop pretty good logic/analytic skills as well, but that's just 
my opinion.  Maybe it's the other way around and logic/analytic skills 
lead to easily learning programing languages.  As for learning for the 
sake of it, if it's fun I don't see how it could hurt any.

Brian Vanderburg II