This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Alexander McMillan
Now that JavaScript and React have both been mastered (and by "mastered" I mean "acquired a rudimentary base understanding of"), the time has come to move on to the favorite database buddy of many a programmer, Python. Having spent a considerable amount of time dealing with front-end programming, swimming in the nuts and bolts of object-oriented programming was yet another learning experience. Not just in the sense that for the first time I was dealing with a much more abstract presentation, that lacked the same visual feedback of my front-end buddies, I was now dealing with something a programmer needs to understand with a new programming language.
Syntax.
How familiar it can seem is both a blessing and a bane of learning a new language. As a programmer, there can only be so many tasks you can code. These tasks don't change much from language to language I have recently learned, but the method of coding these tasks properly can differ greatly from language to language. A method is not just a method but a function! Oh, how familiar! Why, a list is nothing but an array!How simple and easy this new language will be!
Whoever coined the term "familiarity breeds contempt" was probably a programmer.
While familiarity is certainly a positive at times, you become set in your ways as a programmer. Even with pythons sleek, streamlined syntax the muscle memory in your fingers will simply do things that python does not like at all. The new syntax might require less keystrokes but the _placement _of these keystrokes can render an entire file practically invisible to everything except your own eyes (which are the ones that don't matter at all in this case).
Hours will be spent with your nose inches from the screen looking for a sign....any sign of why it isn't working....only to find that your if/else statement is one space away from where python wants it. Just one. A single space and Python absolutely refuses to acknowledge that your code exists. Like a pet cat that turns it's head away from the new brand of food you're attempting to feed it because it's several dollars less. Like your fat, spoiled feline, Python simply _does not have the time for this. _
So you press the space bar one time and everyone is happy. Except the programmer, but that's to be expected at this point. However, perhaps I dwell on the negatives. It's certainly easier to learn something once you have a reference point. The technical aspects of python certainly come easier now that you know what's happening. Moving forward, all languages will essentially become learning a syntax more than anything else. Is that a good things. Yes, probably it is. Even if it means going blind staring at your screen looking for the single keystroke of error.
This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Alexander McMillan
Alexander McMillan | Sciencx (2024-09-28T20:25:47+00:00) Becoming a multi-lingual programmer. Retrieved from https://www.scien.cx/2024/09/28/becoming-a-multi-lingual-programmer/
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