Like many small business owners I find I need to wear many different hats. One day I’m a developer, the next day I’m a system administrator, and back when we were based out of my garage I had to play the role of landscaper every few weeks. I actually enjoy the fact that I do so many different things if for no other reason than because it forces me to learn new things almost constantly. That being said, when I find tools that are useful across the many roles I play here at Automata, it makes me very happy.

A few years ago, at the recommendation of a few friends, I started to pick up the programming language Python – and boy and I’m glad I did! While it doesn’t help me cut my grass it has ended up helping me do almost everything else that I do. Python, unlike many other languages I know, works incredibly well at both a scripting “let’s hack something together” level and at a full-on-programming “let’s build something BIG” level.

Being the closest thing I’ve seen to executable pseudo-code it’s even a seriously wonderful first language (Hell, I wished I learned it first rather than rotting my brain with BASIC!). Heck, these days if you’re on a Mac you get python baked in!

Here’s just a few ways Python has helped me and my company:

• building out large CMS sites with Django
• loading and munging large datasets in MongoDB
• scraping data off of websites
• collecting content for and build SCORM e-learning packages

If you’re interested in learning Python my two favorite resources are Dive into Python and How to Think Like A Computer Scientist. Both are free online books and both are excellent.