For a while I’ve been thinking about switching to Python, especially when I see so many programs I like to use written in it. My favorite terminal Guake comes to mind first and of course my all-time favorite editor Sublime Text. The community around Ruby is so heavily focused on web development that other areas seem to be neglected. When I first started getting into coding, web seemed the way to go. I got caught up in the hype and forgot what my gut told me. I love CLI apps and sysadmin tasks. I’ve also found I really enjoy GUI toolkits.  As a language Ruby is really wonderful, but the Python ecosystem just seems like a better fit for me. In January I decided to take the plunge. I came down with something and was confined to bed for a week so it was the perfect time to spend learning. I’m so happy with the change already. I’m writing more and better code in Python than I ever did in Ruby. First step was a beginner’s tutorial. I started with the free Google Python class. I usually prefer purely reading material, but the videos were really enjoyable. Made me feel like I was back in a classroom environment again.

Python is amazing me every day with how many modules and packages are available. After doing a bit of scripting, I started picking up the Kivy framework. It’s an “Open source Python library for rapid development of applications that make use of innovative user interfaces, such as multi-touch apps.” Python makes me feel empowered to create any coding idea I can dream up. If you’re thinking of learning to code or want to try a new language, I strongly suggest checking out the list of tutorials on the Python wiki. Python is amazingly fun to write and so clean to read. White space as syntax makes for such simple and readable code. I’ve been using it barely over three weeks and already I want to rewrite all of my utility scripts from Ruby to Python.

Let me know in the comments if you have any questions about starting out in either Python or Ruby! And for those interested I have a large list of links to tutorials and useful learning materials on my Pinboard.