"Should I Use An Online Course To Learn Python?"
By Dave Mabe
Here's a reader question from Lindee (name used with permission, lightly edited for clarity):
Lindee:
I signed up for PyCharm but have not made any headway.
Instead, as a beginner to get any kind of traction, do you recommend one of the games like Codify or Codefinity for learning Python? I could add it to my Duolingo practice, where I have maintained a long streak.
Dave:
I've seen these online courses for learning programming, and I've never really paid them much attention.
The issue is one of motivation.
How can you really get motivated to learn something when the tasks in these courses are, by definition, arbitrary and pointless?
The benefit at the end is vague and unclear.
You'll almost always run out of steam when attempting them, and you won't retain much knowledge.
A far better approach is to pick some aspect of your trading workflow that could benefit from automation.
And challenge yourself to automate it and work it into your process.
The real benefit here is that from the moment you put it in place, your life improves.
Your trading gets a little bit better (sometimes a LOT better).
You can feel the improvement in your workflow every day from then on.
The "learning Python" part is secondary.
Once you do this, you'll start noticing other ways to make your process better.
Do this enough, and it will be impossible NOT to improve your P&L.
Thanks for the question, Lindee!
-Dave
P.S.
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