A python question...

[Andrew L. Gould]

On Tue, 4 May 2004 17:52:42 -0400
Bruce Marshall <bmarsh at bmarsh.com> wrote:
> On Tuesday 04 May 2004 05:21 pm, Andrew L. Gould wrote:
> > On Tue, 4 May 2004 06:49:13 -0400
> >
> > Bruce Marshall <bmarsh at bmarsh.com> wrote:
> > > On Monday 03 May 2004 10:02 pm, Jerry McBride wrote:
> > > > > On Sun, 2 May 2004 18:05:07 -0400
> > > > >
> > > > > Jerry McBride <mcbrides9 at comcast.net> wrote:
> > > > > > Ok... I've just begun my python training and it's... well...
> > > > > > going...
> > > > > >
> > > > > > :')
> > > >
> > > > Boy! This python stuff is really fun! On my home lan, I now use
> > > > it as my scripting language of choice... regina rexx is in the
> > > > dust bin...
> > > >
> > > > Thanks to all those that helped me.
> > >
> > > Hmmm   what method did you use to learn the language??
> > >
> > > (Regina still in use here)
> > >
> > > --------++ Bruce S. Marshall  bmarsh at bmarsh.com  Bellaire, MI
> >
> > Disregarding one semester of Pascal in the early 1980's, Python is
> > my first programming/scripting language.  I'm still a newbie; but
> > that's because I don't code often.  In healthcare, not "coding" is a
> > good thing.   ;-)
> >
> > I learned Python basics from "Learning Python" by Mark Lutz & David
> > Ascher.  I think a new edition was released recently.  I also found
> > the examples in "Practical Python" by Magnus Lie Hetland to be very
> > useful. Remember that this advice is coming from a newbie.
> 
> Sounds like both you and Jerry should read this article:
> 
> http://www.linuxjournal.com/article.php?sid=3882
> 
> I read it today....  It's a real eye-opener about Python.
> >
> > Best regards,
> >
> > Andrew Gould
> +--------------------------------------------------------------------
> --------++ Bruce S. Marshall  bmarsh at bmarsh.com  Bellaire, MI        
> 05/04/04 17:51 

Well, my misstep rate is much higher than Mr. Raymond's; but I don't
feel **too** bad about it.

As for the whitespace issue, it wasn't an adjustment for me.  Besides
being new to programming, I've always written my algorithms in outline
format -- whether for planning audits, large data analysis projects,
etc.  Consistent use of whitespace makes an algorithm visually logical.

I've been able to do some very useful scripts in Python with very little
experience:

a) a user-side crosstab query script for postgresql

b) batch processing a directory of healthcare electronic remittance
advices into a relational data model of delimited text files; with
derived primary keys to prevent processing a file twice

c) converting a space delimited file, with text enclosed in double
quotation marks, to a tab delimited file, leaving text value spaces
unchanged

Fun stuff.

Best regards,

Andrew Gould