Thursday, December 17, 2009

Python training in Malaysia

A guy contacted me recently regarding training. Me tried of course to look for local trainers here but some were either too expensive or just strangely did not reply emails. So it boiled down to having to do it myself. My junior programmer (or should I say sys admin since he said he wants nothing to do with programming) asked essentially can we survive being a Python trainer in Malaysia. Sadly, the answer is still no. Training here are few and far apart. After hearing my answer, his face showed a kind of demeanor that your neighbor would have if you drove up the drive way with your broken down Toyota claiming that this is dream car.

He must have been thinking that Java as a language is still better than Python since he can at least see some Java jobs on jobstreet and stuff. Generally that is still the whole conception of Python in Malaysia. Talks do help. We just need more. At least nowadays when I talk to corporates about Python they don't ask me why I suddenly bring wildlife into a conversation when they asked me what would the ideal programming language that their IT department should adopt for high productivity. I should hit the university level more to create more awareness. I have thought classes for corporates who were full of Python doubters and at the end of the class, all the Java people walked out at least respecting Python for what it can do and actually contemplating using Python in their environment.

It's really gratifying to see programmers who were initially so skeptical about Python suddenly light up to the possibilities of using Python for their work after being in the Python training with me. That to me is priceless and I wish that I could do more of these kind of Python gigs.

I think that awareness is the key for us Pythonistas to be able to survive doing the thing that we love so much here. I think that here at least if more people knew about the existence of Python it would really help and then I can finally tell that doubting junior system administrator ... "Yes! There is a future being a Python trainer!"

4 comments:

Unknown said...

So the story start with a little python.my training project in UMP..

just basic python. and it forever scarred me.. OK it is a bit exaggerating. But it is interesting to see that student don't quite get what is happening, why python.

Probably it is just us set up the level too high

lowkster said...

So the training went badly?

Unknown said...

well, i do feel bad that, they have to pay, but get nothing in return.....

i tried a text console exercise, nobody seems to able to solve it...

lowkster said...

Oh ... okay. I gave them loads of examples all very easy and small baby steps. I guess programmers would be easier to teach to wrap their mind around a new paradigm.