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ASK HN: What should a Python developer learn next?

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Re: ASK HN: What should a Python developer learn next?

#21
With already knowing python and js it might be interesting to learn databases and web servers next. I would reccomend postgres and nginx. They'll connect up nicely with python and JavaScript and you'll be working with a whole stack top to bottom.

Another fun place to explore might be libraries for either language. Both have rich ecosystems of thousands of libraries that connect up to various things in the physical and digital world.

https://pypistats.org/top

Re: ASK HN: What should a Python developer learn next?

#22

I've started my career with Python and after doing some Typescript for a while I've really fallen in love with Scala. The syntax in Scala 3 is very readable (after dealing with the initial discomfort of a new language) and the language feels, in same ways, like a natural evolution of Python. Having the possibility of using the whole Java ecosystem is also a huge plus. It's definitely not a perfect language but it sha…

Scala is one of the only languages that I've missed after using Python for the past few years. (When I look for jobs, I mostly look for Python and Scala jobs rather than other languages I've worked in.)

Other comments point out that you should try to dig deeper into python. That's fair. But if you've only worked in a couple languages, learning a new language will give you more perspective on the languages you already know.

Learning any other language will probably be helpful, but Scala is an easy recommendation to make. It'll force you to learn new things, and it's a pleasant language to work in once you get used to it.

Re: ASK HN: What should a Python developer learn next?

#23
post #19

You could learn about basic anomaly detection systems or simple recommendation engines. At a simple level this is language agnostic although at a higher level you should use Python for machine learning. As for specific technologies possibly Rust which is like an OCaml and C hybrid. If you wish to think differently I recommend Haskell and Coq but these are not 'useful'.

Any recommendation of how to get started with recommendation engine and anomaly detection ? Should one grok all the math pre-reqs before starting with them, or can pick the math as we go along ? Appreciate your inputs.

I am not an expert or industry practitioner of either recommendation engines or anomaly detection, just I meant simple and useful things to add to a website.

Suppose your website has posts and you want to flag posts when they have abnormally high likes because they might be great reading or complimenting your new release. You could collect a dataset of likes after a day, X, of each post. Then calculate mean and variance, fit a normal distribution[1]. Then calculate z such that P(X >= z) = 0.01 (1%). z represents the cut off point at which typically only 1% of posts are above. Then when a post is above z say 1000 likes then you see what all the fuss is about.

I am just talking about applying 16-18 school maths in a simple way, to point out unlikely events. Of course the distribution of likes may not look like a normal curve if you plot (number of posts with x likes against x) so a different distribution may make more sense. It may not be a perfect model but just a quick and dirty thing to try, :).

Personally I enjoyed completing the free Andrew Ng Machine Learning course[2] on Coursera which covers this and quickly training a simple recommendation engine for movies. It also covers multi-variate Gaussian distributions if you want to flag based on more than one criteria. For this course, the maths is relatively accessible and they go over what you may have forgotten so you can pick up maths as you go along.

Of course you can go far more complex if you like but I don't know much about that.

[1] Normal distribution https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normal_distribution

[2] https://www.coursera.org/learn/machine-learning

Re: ASK HN: What should a Python developer learn next?

#24
Read the [Hissp][1] tutorials (find the docs). It shouldn't take a Python dev too long. It will deepen your Python knowledge and give you a gentler introduction to the world of Lisp because it uses the familiar Python vocabulary with Lispy syntax and then introduces macros. After that intro, and given your JS experience, you should be able to pick up ClojureScript without too much trouble.

[1]: https://github.com/gilch/hissp

Re: ASK HN: What should a Python developer learn next?

#25

I'd say docker and sql. If you have some base that you want to build upon, extend the stack so that you are more versital and can handle issues around the stuff you are working on.

Second this, especially if you're doing web development right now. SQL is great (start with analytic-type query), or even dig deeper into the SQLAlchemy/Django/whatever ORM you're using.
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