Teaching Business People How To Hack

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7654402

by jevgeni • 12 years ago

2 4 12 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

I work in a team of financial analysts in a large company. My team came to the conclusion, that adhering to enterprise "solutions" for our results is really unproductive. So a lot of stuff we do is now solved by lightweight home-hacked implementations.

Being the designated "tech savvy" person, I now have the task to teach people the tech skills required for this. Most of them handle SQL on a daily basis and know a bit of VBA. My goal is to teach them a programming language (probably Python), some lightweight OOP concepts and most importantly the methods and the habits of a good software developer, i.e. version control, writing code for long-term readability, fast iteration development and just general care for their workflow.

Could you guys recommend any good resources (i.e. podcasts, articles, whatever), that you, personally, find extraordinarily good? The kind of succinct explanation of the above concepts, that made you personally fall in love with the thing being explained?

rifinio• 12 years ago

Hi there, i recommend to you http://thenewboston.org it has a dosen of video tutorials about programming languages. for example this is the Python course link http://thenewboston.org/list.php?cat=36 best of luck (y)

jevgeni2• 12 years ago

Oh, very cool. Thanks!

mjhea0• 12 years ago

Python is the way to go. This is exactly how I got into Python: I worked as a Financial Analyst, automating giant reports with VBA. I quickly found out just how much easier Python was, compared to VBA, and I could then hook directly up to the Quickbooks API to grab data.

New Boston http://thenewboston.org/list.php?cat=36 is a good place to start. People can get their feet wet. Learn Python the Hard Way http://learnpythonthehardway.org/ is one of the best beginner tutorials. The problem, though, is that the examples are a bit boring because the focus is not so much on the examples, but on repetition - for learning the syntax. Most have to power through this. I would highly recommend it.

I am also the author/co-founder of a Python training series called Real Python http://www.realpython.com. We start with the syntax, then move into web development.

The first course would be great for your team. It's got excellent examples, many of which are relevant to your field.

Additionally, I have been training people in Python for a number of years now, so I can create custom training material as well, specifically or your needs. Since my background is in analytics, I understand what is needed to take someone from that Excel/SQL level and get them going with just enough Python to automate much of their jobs. From there, they can take their Python learning to the next level.

Feel free to contact me at michael (at) realpython (dot) com.

Cheers!

jevgeni2• 12 years ago

Oh, awesome! I'll check that out. Thank you very much.