Started with Python but switched to JavaScript after one project

Tbh I spent 3 weeks learning Python loops and functions but got stuck when I tried to make a simple web scraper work for my car parts inventory. Switched to JavaScript the next day and had a working script in 4 hours - anyone else find that one language just clicks way faster than others?

2 comments

2 Comments

gracecarr9d ago

That line about Python tricking you into thinking it's easy really hit home for me. I spent two whole weeks banging my head against Python trying to scrape some basic shipping rates from a logistics site, and just kept running into weird errors with async stuff that made no sense. Switched to JavaScript with a simple Node script and had it pulling the data I needed in maybe three hours, no joke. It's like Python's simplicity on the surface hides all this complexity that punches you in the face when you try to do something real world. JavaScript is messy in its own way but for getting a job done fast, especially with websites, it just makes way more sense to me. Did you stick with JavaScript after that first project or did you ever try to go back to Python?

lily57410d ago

Yeah I actually read this article the other day that said Python's syntax tricks people into thinking it's easy but then you hit weird stuff like the GIL or async and it just falls apart. JavaScript has its own mess obviously but once you get the event loop thing it's pretty straightforward for practical stuff like scraping or automation. I heard some dev say that Python is better for learning concepts but JavaScript is better for actually getting shit done, especially when you're dealing with real websites and APIs. That totally matched my experience - spent a month struggling with Python tutorials but built a working inventory tracker in a weekend with Node.