How Much Python is Enough to Land a Job?

Ranking 5^th in the list of top ten most popular programming languages as per TIOBE Programming Community Index, Python is one of the most beneficial languages to learn. And that is just the technical side of it. The guy who wrote Python did it for the fun of it mostly, so it is not surprising that learning Python is quite a joyful process. With aphorisms like ‘beautiful is better than ugly, explicit is better than implicit, simple is better than complex, complex is better than complicated and readability is essential’ as a part of its core philosophy, Python stands out as one of the most diverse and multi-paradigm languages in the programming world today.

Why Learn Python?

If you are still not convinced, CERN, NASA, Google, Yahoo, ILM and ITA are some of the companies which use Python. The versatility which comes from such a highly extensible interpreter, a small core language and huge standard library is priceless for Python Engineers.

Six Python Must-Have Skills

To start out in the field and land a job with your Python knowledge and skills, you do not need to know everything there is so far to know about Python. However, there are some must-have skills which you need to acquire if you want to find yourself in a good position in a company. You can find them listed below:

Core Python

Python modules have a very wide applicability and hence, you do not need to learn every module there is. Learn the basics of the core language including syntax, basic types and commonly applied modules. Then, depending on the field of work you are interested in, pick modules to master. It is also important to understand the differences in working between Python 2 and Python 3 since a lot of programs continue to run on Python 2.

Web Frameworks

Web frameworks are essential when you want to launch a project. Building from scratch is no longer a requisite; nor is it advisable. If you want to get savvier with Python as a beginner, learn to use a minimalistic framework like web.py. Once you are better oriented with the language, pick up a more intense Python framework like Django, Flask, Bottle or Tornado.

Object-Relational Mappers

It is way more convenient and energy efficient to learn and use ORMs to write a Python code in order to create, read, delete or update data and schemes in your database instead of SQL. ORMs or Object-Relational Mappers are essentially code libraries which automate the transfer of data to objects that are commonly used in application codes from relational database tables. Knowledge of ORMs is definitely a must have if you want to make it as a Python engineer.

Multi-Process Architecture

If you want to create applications which are high performance and at par with competitive standards, you must have the necessary skill set to write and coordinate multi threads and processes effectively without losing ground.

Develop and Use RESTful APIs

Representational State Transfer is basically the underlying architecture of the World Wide Web. In a nutshell, it is how clients and servers communicate. You will be expected to know how to develop and apply RESTful APIs with Python and a chosen web framework.

 Build Python Application

Unless you know how to build applications using Python, your services in the field of work is going to be extremely limited. So make sure that when you are setting out to learn the language, you set out realistic goals which include designing and building Python applications.

This is a good time to learn Python and add it to the CV since many companies are adopting Python additionally, while some are even replacing Java scripts with Python scripts.