Video course “Writing life hacks in Python“

Description

Now that you are convinced of my competence, let's move on to the main topic. In general, I started using programming as a way of automating routine almost immediately. At that time I used Java for this purpose, then for some tasks I used PHP. But when I got acquainted with Python, I realized how much more convenient, faster and easier it is to do all the same things in this wonderful language.

Here's an example. Let's say you need to regularly download fresh YouTube videos in maximum quality on a channel you subscribe to. For example, you need it for the reason that you have to travel in the morning on public transportation, where there is no stable Internet, or mobile traffic is limited, but you want to pass the time watching videos. What can you do? In the evening, just go to the channel, see if there is a fresh video, and go to one of the many services, insert a link in their form, download, then upload to some flash drive or mobile device.

What are the problems here? First, you'll need to do it every night and spend time doing it. Secondly, services for free will not allow you to download in a quality higher than Full HD (although a quick look showed that even in Full HD there is only for money), that is, for 2K or 4K only a separate paid program. Then you have to wait for the download and then press a lot of buttons to transfer the video file to an external device.

And what if I told you that such a program in Python with proper knowledge can be written literally in 30 minutes? Just 30 minutes, and your program will automatically start at a given time, check for new video, download it in maximum quality and upload it to your device. You will only have to unplug your device from your computer in the morning and take it with you. That's it!

So a few years ago I still had to create such programs in Java, and it took many hours. In Python, thanks to the huge number of modules, it can be accelerated several times! Java is a really serious and complex language, while Python is a language that even children can master.

In my youth I had to learn Turbo Pascal as my first programming language. And this language was morally and physically obsolete even then, but it gave a foundation for understanding programming. Now everything is much better. Python gives not only a foundation, as Turbo Pascal (or Basic) once did, but also a great modern, up-to-date tool for a variety of everyday tasks.

As for the YouTube example, this is one of the endless cases where you can simplify your life by taking the routine out of it by using Python.

Here are a few more examples of how you can use Python: autosending emails, renaming thousands of files, searching by file content (not by name, but by content), parsing websites, adding watermarks, speech recognition, creating financial reports, and much, much more.

I'm sure that if you interact with computers even a little bit, you probably encounter many monotonous, one-size-fits-all tasks that can be automated with Python.

Video courses from Mikhail Rusakov