Starting a Programming Journey (Python & Steemit)

It all begins with a single step...

Usually in the wrong direction. Over the past five days or so, I have done many hours of reading, formatting, more reading, downloading, reformatting, installing, wrecking my recovery partition, and uninstalling so many things.

My goal of this journey is to develop tools for myself and for others dealing with the Steem blockchain. I have always wanted to start programming as a hobby but I have never been disciplined enough to follow through. That is all going to change with Steemit. I have met and interacted with many people on the platform and I have decided I want to help out in any way I can. I believe the best way will be through this medium.

This will be a long road, but it will be fruitful at the end.

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So what have you done so far?

Well, I'm glad you asked. Since I own a MacBook Pro, Python is already installed on it. I thought, "Oh boy, this'll be easier than I thought." Wrong. Anyone who has any Python knowledge knows that it isn't that simple. I tried to follow a few different online tutorials, but most of them were for Ubuntu. I was determined though, I can handle hard problems. Wrong again.

Since I knew so little about Python and differences about operating systems, I thought it would be pretty comparable. I was right in some ways, but in others I was totally wrong.

After messing around with Python 3 on my Mac, I decided I need to just make the jump over to Linux. But how should I do that? I own a Raspberry Pi, but that requires an HDMI monitor to use and an extra keyboard and mouse, blah blah blah. Not an option. I thought to myself, lets just partition your hard drive and put Ubuntu on it! Great idea!

Ubuntu is a registered trademark of Canonical Ltd.

First step in the right direction

While the idea was great, I didn't really know much about putting another operating system onto a computer. While reading more tutorials, it seemed to me like I only had to make a partition and figure out a way to install it, then the computer would automatically see both operating systems while booting. Wrong (again).

After partitioning my hard drive for Linux, I figured out a way to install it using unetbootin. I was amazed, I thought that I got it first try. I did, but in an incorrect way. I had no way of seeing the EFI partition during boot. After messing around with installing different things for hours, I shut down the machine and went to sleep. When I turned it back on the next morning I found my mistake.

Researching, I found rEFInd for dual booting. Yes, I thought, I am one step closer to getting this system onto my computer. After getting past the System Integrity Protection, I was able to install rEFInd. When I rebooted, I was able to see my Macintosh HD and my Linux flash drive! Success!

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Where I am right now

I was able to get Ubuntu onto my MacBook Pro and I got all of the Steem-Python stuff downloaded. I was able to write a very short Python script that pulls 50 of my followers. Here is the code:

nodes=['https://api.steemit.com']
from steem import Steem
s = Steem(nodes)
print(s.get_followers('iamredbar', '', 'blog', 50))

Many errors makes for many learning experiences

I believe I learn best by making mistakes and learning from them. If you have seen something I've posted that isn't correct or if there is a better way to do it, please let me know! I want to learn and learning from a great community like this seems to be the best way to do it.

@iamredbar