“Everyone Talks About How They’d Learn Python If They Started Over — I Actually Got to Do It”

After a 2-year break from coding, I decided to refresh my Python skills. I didn’t forget everything ⇾ but I needed to rebuild confidence and get back in the groove.

What Helped Me Bounce Back?

To dip myself back again into the realms of Python Basics I first had to craft a well-structured and detailed plan that would help me do the task way faster.
This approach involves some rules and steps to be followed.

Rules ⚖

1. I should always learn by doing, in the sense that while learning a topic I should practice along by just typing and testing the code and the changes it cause.
2. I must adhere the pathway suggested by a roadmap throughout the journey of relearning. For this I used the roadmap from roadmap.sh.
3. Every concept must be learnt in detail in order to fill the knowledge gaps that I had when I first learnt Python.

Tips for you 🥴

• Try learning using additional tools like Ruff(for formatting and linting), and how to create virtual environments and updating the requirements for a project.
• Then practice version control (Git and GitHub) to keep you in touch with them so that you don't need a cheat sheet for Git in future.
• Try learning of optimize code using DRY (Don't Repeat Yourself) principle and performance optimization tricks for Python.

Go-To Resources That Made the Difference 🎁

These are the platforms and tools that made my Python comeback smoother, sharper, and more structured:

YouTube Channels 🎥

• Tech With Tim – Project-based learning that helped me solidify concepts with real use cases.
• Bro Code – Fast and clear tutorials that covered a wide range of Python topics, from beginner to intermediate.

Coding & Practice Platforms 💻

• Replit – Great for testing small scripts instantly with no setup.
• W3Schools Python– My quick-reference guide for brushing up syntax and simple examples.
• Codeforces – Helped me sharpen logic and problem-solving skills with competitive-style problems.

Learning Sites 📖

• Real Python – In-depth explanations and tutorials that helped me understand the “why” behind the code.

Tools I Used Daily 🛠️

• VS Code – My primary code editor, enhanced with Python extensions for better formatting and debugging.
• GitHub – For saving projects, practicing version control, and learning from other developers’ code.
• ChatGPT – A go-to companion for explaining errors, simplifying concepts, and speeding up debugging.

Real Projects That Helped Me Reconnect with Python

• A modern content aggregator – Using the Feedparser and Flask frameworks of Python, I was able to build a blog content aggregator.

• A command-line interface tool – Using the Click package, I created a CLI tool that helps streamline tasks directly from the terminal with ease and customization.

• A password generator and management tool – I built a simple yet secure tool using Python to generate strong passwords and manage them locally, with encryption support for storing sensitive data.

• A file organizer for my system – I developed a Python script that automatically sorts and organizes files in a directory based on file type, extension, or custom rules. It helped me clean up my programming folder and keep things structured.

Common Pitfalls to Avoid When Relearning Python

• Jumping into advanced stuff too quickly: Why? cause I did the same mistake and got no far in my journey.
• Getting trapped into Tutorial hell: Instead of watching tutorials by tutorials, try learning by doing i.e. write code while you learn a new concept of Python
• Ignoring Built-in functions and modules like json, os, math, etc.

Simple Habits That Helped Me Stay Consistent

1. Writing code for at least 30 mins a day.
2. Maintaining a good GitHub profile and also a code snippets file.
3. Practicing problem-solving in Codeforces daily