How Much Python Do You Need To Know To Be Useful?

Nerval's Lobster writes: Since Python is a general-purpose language, it finds its way into a whole lot of different uses and industries. That means the industry in which you work has a way of determining what you actually need to know in terms of the language, as developer Jeff Cogswell explains in a new Dice piece. For example, if you're hired to write apps that interact with operating systems and monitor devices, you might not need to know how to use the Python modules for scientific and numerical programming. In a similar fashion, if you're hired to write Python code that interacts with a MySQL database, then you won't need to master how it works with CouchDB. The question is, how much do you need to know about Python's basics? Cogswell suggests there are three basic levels to learning Python: Learn the core language itself, such as the syntax and basic types (and the difference between Python 2 and Python 3); learn the commonly used modules, and familiarize yourself with other modules; learn the bigger picture of software development with Python, such as including Python in a build process, using the pip package manager, and so on. But is that enough?

Comments

trick question

[hypergreatthing]

The answer has to be 0 right?

Re:trick question

[TechyImmigrant]

The answer has to be 0 right?

No. The answer would be : None

Re:trick question

[sinrakin]

If you need to know it, you need to know it. If I hired someone who didn't know some piece of Python that was needed, I'd totally sit his ass down and make him spend the 5 minutes it would take to learn it. No excuses.

Re:trick question

[theendlessnow]

IndentationError: unexpected indent

Re:trick question

[ArcadeMan]

Someone should make a whitespace language comprised of only spaces and tabs.

Re:trick question

[telchine]

I find that knowing the majority of the Dead Parrot sketch and the main chorus of the Lumberjack song gets me through fine :)

I'm already useful

[plover]

I know C++. To me, anyone who knows python but not C++ is half useless. If you only know Java, you're 25% useless. And if you know only Visual Basic, you're 125% useless.

You can get by with:

[xaosflux]

Holy Grail;
Dead Parrot;
Spam;
Ministry of Silly Walks;
and of course Spanish Inquisition.

Re:You can get by with:

[Anonymous Coward]

I didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition to be on that list...

Re:You can get by with:

[ArcadeMan]

Well I got everyone beat. I did expect five items on his list:

Holy Grail
Dead Parrot;
Spam;
Ministry of Silly Walks;
Spanish Inquisition;
and Argument Clinic

No you didn't.

COBOL

[Anonymous Coward]

COBOL WAS LIKE THAT UP TO THE 1977 REVISION. FORTUNATELY I LEARNED COBOL-80.

Blah, blah, blah, COBOL is yelling.

Bare minimum

[bobdehnhardt]

I'd say the Parrot Sketch, Argument Clinic, and Silly Walks. Maybe add in Bruces and Spanish Inquisition, although no one expects that last one.

Um, what? No, I didn't read the article before responding. Why do you ask?

Re:A Similar Question

[ArcadeMan]

Question: How much of the title do you need to read in order to guess it's an article from dice?

Answer: None at all. If you're on Slashdot, it's a given.

By a strange coincidence, "None at all" is exactly how much suspicion the ape descendant Arthur Dent had that one of his closest friends was not descended from an ape, but was in fact from a small planet somewhere in the vicinity of Betelgeuse. Arthur Dent's failure to suspect this reflects the care with which his friend blended himself into human society, after a fairly shaky start. When he first arrived 15 years ago, the minimal research he had done suggested to him that the name Ford Prefect would be nicely inconspicuous. He will enter our story in 30 seconds and say, "Hello, Arthur."

The ape descendant will greet him in return but, in deference to a million years of human evolution, he will not attempt to pick fleas off him. Earthmen are not proud of their ancestors and never invite them round to dinner.

Re:Almost

[Marginal Coward]

It always amazes me that so many folks reject something entirely because they don't like one aspect of it. Good luck finding a wife...

I think you would need to know the Holy Grail...

[Fallen Kell]

I mean seriously, you need to at least know the Holy Grail to say that you know Python...

Re:Almost

[rubycodez]

My wife doesn't have a white space, she's asian.

Re:Almost

[Marginal Coward]

I heard a similar rationale regarding a baby and its bathwater. At first, the bathwater was blamed for the unfortunate zealous disposal of the baby. But when that explanation didn't fly, the purported ugliness of the baby was offered as justification. However, after hearing both explanations, the jury remained unconvinced.