[Tutor] Learning Objectives?

[Leam Hall]

On 02/27/17 20:12, Alan Gauld via Tutor wrote:
> On 27/02/17 14:57, leam hall wrote:
>
>>> I'm not aware of such a list, and I'm not sure it's of much value.
>>> Better to just learn what you need and use it. ...
>
>> When I was coming up as a Linux guy I took the old SAGE guidelines and
>> studied each "level" in turn. It was useful for making me a well-rounded
>> admin and helped me put off some higher end stuff I wasn't really ready
>> for.
>
> Its an individual choice, so if it works for you don't let
> me stop you :-) But I still don't know of any such list.

Understood. However, think about the issue from a newbie perspective.

1. The Python Tutor e-mail list helps with questions when someone can 
frame a question.

2. Books or videos like "Learning Python", "Learn Python the Hard Way", 
or the Coursera/EdX classes cover what the publisher felt could be 
covered in a profitable way.

3. Books like "Python Projects" can help someone go from absolute newbie 
to being able to do useful stuff. <Shameless plug for Alan's book>

When I was learning Ruby I put section dividers in a 3 ring binder and 
had one section for each of the topics in the Pickaxe book. That way as 
I learned and relearned things could gel a little better. I have an old 
copy of "Learning Python" and will break out the section dividers today.

I don't know about anyone else, but I have a bad habit of jumping in way 
over my head and getting frustrated when I can't make things work. By 
setting a sequential list it helps prevent that; learning Objects is 
much easier when one understands functions.

>> documentation. It's sort of the "if we hired a junior or senior coder, what
>> basics would we want them to know?"
>
> That's the thing. I've never, in 40 years in IT, seen
> anyone advertise for a junior programmer. Just doesn't seem to
> happen. It's a bit like having a headache and asking for a
> weak pain killer...
>
> There are places offered for programming apprenticeships,
> but they assume you are starting from scratch.


The PHP community has a Mentoring thing (https://php-mentoring.org/), 
and I would assume there are many open source Python projects that would 
be willing to bring a junior in and help them grow. Growth and 
contributing seem to go hand in hand. It's easy to read a book and think 
you "know" a language. It's more challenging when you're in the lab with 
seasoned programmers and you're pushed to produce better and better code.

It's a lot nicer for the seasoned programmers if you don't have to be 
convinced to write tests or taught what an object is.  :)

The "junior" level is more a gift to the seasoned programmers; someone 
who can do those basics has proven a willingness to learn coding past 
the "type what's in the book" phase. Of course, one must go through 
junior to get to senior.

For those interested, GIAC has a Certified Python Programmer. It focuses 
on using security tools, which is GIAC's forte.

http://www.giac.org/certification/python-coder-gpyc

Does a certification make you a better coder? Not really, there are lots 
of uncertified (but probably certifiable!) expert coders out there. 
However, certifications can help in the job search and it's nice to get 
paid for what you enjoy.

Leam