Python Learning-suggestions please !

Give yourself a chance to process the information, try to think of each challenge as steps to a puzzle. I'm doing the collections series now and I've been programming for years. I know PHP, Objective-C and some other languages and learning Python like any language is part learning the syntax and part thinking logically through the problems. Instead of seeking the answer in the forums right away, think about what you learned in the basics course. Google parts of the problem as you work through them. I get stuck all the time. Learning to program is partly thinking through the problem then tackling it bit by bit. Kenneth does a great job of showing this by breaking down each programming session into a list of comments where the entire project is broken into steps.

As you continue to practice, your ability to solve these challenges will improve as your brain gets better at processing the syntax, the programming fundamentals and the "logic" behind how things flow.

You ARE going to get frustrated. I was pulling my hair out last night on the a challenge with dictionaries. I'm familiar with these from Objective-C but I wasn't clear on how to iterate through them. So I took a break. Came back 2 hours later and did a search on "how to iterate through python dictionaries". The ideas were presented in a different way and KA-POW, it clicked in my brain. I was then able to solve the challenge.

Use the forums they help. But I find that when you get the entire solution, you don't get to work through them. I'm learning best by not giving up and just not moving ahead until I can solve the challenge. If you're really stuck, then ask for help, review how they solved the challenge but don't move forward until you really understand most of what is happening in that challenge. If you go too fast, it won't stick.

I'll share a pearl with you. I read lots of programming books. But I don't really begin to understand the language until I practice programming with it. Don't underestimate the power of the challenges to teach you Python. It's the best part of how TeamTreehouse teaches.

Keep asking questions, take breaks, use different sources to get new ways of presenting the information to your brain. You'll learn it and it WILL become easier.

All the best and good luck becoming a better programmer.