{"id":2582,"date":"2020-08-17T16:49:59","date_gmt":"2020-08-17T16:49:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.afternerd.com\/blog\/?p=2582"},"modified":"2021-03-11T12:50:26","modified_gmt":"2021-03-11T12:50:26","slug":"how-long-to-learn-python","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.afternerd.com\/blog\/how-long-to-learn-python\/","title":{"rendered":"How Long does it Take to Learn Python? (And Get a Job)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>How long it takes to learn Python depends on a lot of factors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this post, I will attempt to give you a general estimate of how long it is going to take you if you are an absolute beginner until you get your first job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Specifically, I want to answer these questions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol><li>Should you learn Python2 or Python3?<\/li><li>When will you be able to get a job?<\/li><li>How long does it take to learn Python?<\/li><li>What can you do with Python?<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"How Long Does It Take to Learn Python? (And Get a Job)\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/1GqMpz77XlU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Should you learn Python 2 or Python 3?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>A few years ago, I would&#8217;ve said learn Python 3 and Python 2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Or at least learn Python 3 but understand the differences between Python 3 and Python 2. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are major differences between the two. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The reason for that is because Python 2 is very popular and there are a lot of applications out there that are already written in Python 2. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, as a Python developer, you might need to read Python 2 code or even write Python 2 code yourself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, as of January 1st, 2020, Python 2 has reached what we call end-of-life maintenance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What that means is: the maintainers of the Python programming language are telling you that they are no longer supporting Python 2. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There will be no more security fixes, no more bug reports, and no new releases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So if you&#8217;re learning Python today, it&#8217;s settled. Learn Python 3. Don&#8217;t bother at all with Python 2 anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How long does it take to get a job?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>This is actually a hard question. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It&#8217;s not easy to answer a question like that because it depends on a lot of factors, but I&#8217;ll try to give it the best I can. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>First of all, there is a misconception that I want to clarify upfront. When you&#8217;re learning Python, the objective here is not to be a Python programmer, the job that you&#8217;re getting at the end of the day is not going to be a Python programmer or a Python engineer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You are a software engineer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So when you&#8217;re learning Python, C++, or Java, the objective is to be a good programmer, a good software engineer, not just good in a particular programming language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This mindset is very crucial, especially if you are starting out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here is the approach to follow, if you can, to get a job as quickly as possible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After you finish level 0 and level 1 (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.afternerd.com\/blog\/learn-python\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">I talk in this article about these levels<\/a>), the best approach here is to try to get an internship or a job at a small-ish company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This way, you can start getting practical hands-on experience that will help you grow as a programmer and will give you the confidence you need to bootstrap your career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That said, it is going to be challenging at this stage to get a job at one of the big tech companies because you&#8217;re still not a solid, well-rounded, software engineer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You only know how to code. To grow further, you really need to at least go up to level 4 to be able to target one of these bigger tech companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Being a well-rounded software engineer means you are definitely good at programming, but you also have fundamental concepts in networks, operating systems, data structures and algorithms, etc&#8230;. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How long does it take to learn Python?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>I&#8217;ll try to give you a general, non-scientific, estimate about how long I think it will take you to learn Python.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If we&#8217;re talking about level 0 and level 1, then assuming you are proficient in another programming language, I would give it two weeks to a month at max. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The reason is Python is much easier than other programming languages out there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So if you&#8217;re already proficient in other programming languages, Python is going to be a piece of cake for you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But if you&#8217;re an absolute beginner and Python is your first programming language ever, I would give it from three to six months. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For levels 2, 3, and 4, I would say give yourself somewhere from six months to a year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And of course, the time depends on how much time you have in a day to dedicate to learning Python, and also how fast you learn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What can you do with Python?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Python is a generic programming language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can do pretty much anything with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But of course Python excels at specific applications, I wrote about <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.afternerd.com\/blog\/what-is-python-used-for\/\" target=\"_blank\">these applications in this post<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n<h3>Learning Python?<\/h3>\n<p>Check out <a href=\"https:\/\/courses.afternerd.com\/\">the Courses section!<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2>Featured Posts<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.afternerd.com\/blog\/learn-python\/\">The Python Learning Path (From Beginner to Mastery)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.afternerd.com\/blog\/learn-computer-science\/\">Learn Computer Science (From Zero to Hero)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.afternerd.com\/blog\/coding-interview\/\">Coding Interview Preparation Guide<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.afternerd.com\/blog\/stock-investing-for-beginners\/\">The Programmer&#8217;s Guide to Stock Market Investing<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.afternerd.com\/blog\/start-programming-blog\/\">How to Start Your Programming Blog?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"after-post-box\">\n<h2>Are you Beginning your Programming Career?<\/h2>\n<h3>I provide my best content for beginners in the newsletter.<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Python tips for beginners, intermediate, and advanced levels.<\/li>\n<li>CS Career tips and advice.<\/li>\n<li>Special discounts on my premium courses when they launch.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>And so much more&#8230;<\/p>\n<h3>Subscribe now. It&#8217;s Free.<\/h3>\n<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"\/\/mautic.afternerd.com\/form\/generate.js?id=2\"><\/script><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2589,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[13],"yst_prominent_words":[1716,1718,1719,1712,1710,1116,733,1635,1707,1610,1715,1717,53,149,1711,150,1708,1709,63,1714],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.afternerd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2582"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.afternerd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.afternerd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.afternerd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.afternerd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2582"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.afternerd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2582\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2817,"href":"https:\/\/www.afternerd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2582\/revisions\/2817"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.afternerd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.afternerd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.afternerd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.afternerd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2582"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.afternerd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=2582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}