[tjculbertson]

Did you set out with the goal to be a programmer when you started? I have a particular project I want to build, but I struggle with the build vs buy dilemma. It will probably take me 5x as long and be 10x worse than if found a good programmer.

But, I also want to learn because I know that I need to understand what is being built and if it's being built in the best way to accomplish the goal - getting the job done for the customer.

Is it realistic to focus on being a generalist with an understanding of various languages or do I just need to learn one language first like Python and go from there? I noticed the MIT Python videos are free also. Thanks

[gknoy]

If you want to build something, I think that's an excellent reason to learn Python and dive in. You don't need to become a generalist before you can build something useful which you can learn from. As mentioned in the article, having concrete pain points in your coding ("Why doesn't this work?" or "how can I X?") will help you appreciate the problems that various techniques solve.

Studying other languages exposes you to issues that you might not experience on your own, but on the other hand it's hard to apply your understanding of them all quickly. Python is an excellent language to learn first.

Learn enough of one language to be dangerous, code the minimum that comes close to what you feel you need (or a toy version of it), and then you'll have a much better idea of what else you want to learn. Good luck!

[tjculbertson]

Really appreciate your insight. It seems like there are some good online tutorials out there for Python also. Ok, Python will be my first victim. Thanks!