Data Science
3 Tips to Improve Your Python Programming Skills
Actionables that enhance your prospects as a programmer
Index Of Contents
· Introduction
· Tip 1: Build something every week
· Tip 2: Explore the ecosystem of libraries
· Tip 3: Solve coding challenges
· Closing ThoughtsIntroduction
Programming is the process of turning your thoughts & ideas into instructions for a computer to follow. Mastery over a language like Python allows you to write code and build anything you can imagine! It’s the closest thing to a superpower.
We’re kicking off a new course called “Data Structures and Algorithms in Python” to help you improve your coding skills.
Tip 1: Build something every week
Not surprisingly, the best way to get better at coding is to write code regularly
- Set aside 3–5 hours every week to work on a mini-project (50–100 lines of code)
- Push yourself to make each project slightly bigger and better than the last.
- Explore different language features, libraries, coding best practices, and design patterns.
- Put up the projects on your Github/Jovian profile with proper documentation
Here are 20+ project ideas with source code:
Tip 2: Explore the ecosystem of libraries
Python is the #2-most used language (after JavaScript) and #2 most-loved language (after Rust), partly because of its amazing ecosystem of libraries for a variety of use cases.
- Numpy and Pandas for data analysis
- Requests and Scrapy web crawling and scraping
- Matplotlib and Seaborn for data visualization
- Flask, SQLAlchemy, and Heroku for web development
- OpenCV for image processing, and many more…
Try learning and using different libraries for every new project you build. The FreeCodeCamp YouTube channel is a great place to find tutorials:
Tip 3: Solve coding challenges
Competitive programming is a great way to improve your coding skills and prepare for coding interviews. You can make good progress even if you spend just an hour or two every week.
- Practice on platforms like LeetCode and HackerRank
- Compete on platforms like CodeChef and Codeforces
- Prepare for interviews using GeeksForGeeks
Join our course on “Data Structures and Algorithms in Python” to learn the skills required for solving coding challenges.
Closing Thoughts
Here’s a secret about programming: You don’t need to memorize anything.
It’s perfectly OK to look up documentation, search on Google/StackOverflow, and copy-paste code from a GitHub repository as often as you need.
Try not to feel overwhelmed or intimated by the vast ecosystem of resources, libraries, and frameworks. You can learn and use them as and when you need them. The important part is to keep coding!
