🔒 how to learn a library

[strange sinew]

how do I learn a library? I got the past the basics of Python about 2 months ago and I just can't understand how to learn a library/module. it hurts my head so bad, and idk if I'm stupid or not but this documentation stuff doesn't make any sense. This stuff is seriously a headache bc idk how to learn this stuff.

[dreamy sluice]

@strange sinew

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[buoyant topaz]

What library/module do you want to learn

[strange sinew]

sockets

and I was trying requests too

[rich rover]

Whenever I try learning a library, I open the doc and start my editor. Then whatever I'm reading, I try to apply it immediately and see if it makes sense.

[strange sinew]

yeah but idk what any of it does

[rich rover]

Likewise when I get stuck, I ask a specific question about it.

[buoyant topaz]

You can also use help() in your code to print out what a function does like this:
import x
help(x.something)

[strange sinew]

yeah but that just reads what the documentation says doesn't it

the documentation is hard to understand for me

i might be low iq

this stuff is so hard

[rich rover]

Why don't you try asking specifically what is confusing you about it?

[strange sinew]

bc everything confuses me

i went on the sockets documentation

read like 5 functions

and didnt understand anything

[buoyant topaz]

The documentation is technical, you'll get used to it over time.
Have a look at some videos explaining how to use it maybe but make sure you are trying to use parts of it that you have learned

[rich rover]

I guess thats a problem. You are tackling everything. Tackle one at a time. Ask one at a time. Don't get overwhelmed

[strange sinew]

yeah but like where do i start

then

[rich rover]

First thing comes to mind

[strange sinew]

i hope so bro this stuff actually has me contemplating quiting

[crystal hedge]

if you really don't understand it, you might not have as solid a foundation as you initially thought

can you point to a specific thing you don't understand?

[strange sinew]

wdym like

[crystal hedge]

show us a function you read and don't understand

[strange sinew]

specific function or?

[strange sinew]

ok

give me a sec

[strange sinew]

AF_PACKET is a low-level interface directly to network devices. The addresses are represented by the tuple (ifname, proto[, pkttype[, hatype[, addr]]]) where:

ifname - String specifying the device name.

proto - The Ethernet protocol number. May be ETH_P_ALL to capture all protocols, one of the ETHERTYPE_* constants or any other Ethernet protocol number.

pkttype - Optional integer specifying the packet type:

PACKET_HOST (the default) - Packet addressed to the local host.

PACKET_BROADCAST - Physical-layer broadcast packet.

PACKET_MULTICAST - Packet sent to a physical-layer multicast address.

PACKET_OTHERHOST - Packet to some other host that has been caught by a device driver in promiscuous mode.

PACKET_OUTGOING - Packet originating from the local host that is looped back to a packet socket.

hatype - Optional integer specifying the ARP hardware address type.

addr - Optional bytes-like object specifying the hardware physical address, whose interpretation depends on the device.

like what does this even mean

AFPacket

[crystal hedge]

I personally don't know anything about sockets so can't really answer you there 😦

[strange sinew]

do you know anything about requests

bc that is also so hard for me to understand

maybe this just aint for me idk i might quit

[crystal hedge]

very little

what are your goals with python?

you don't need to know every single library

I've been using python 6+ years and don't know requests or sockets

[strange sinew]

i want to do reverse engineering eventually but i was just learning python bc someone recommended me to start with that, but I was going to try to learn networking and some web scraping with it aswell

ik reverse engineering is like C++/C and assembly

[buoyant topaz]

If you have just started, make sure you know the basics before jumping into the more advanced stuff. Also train your logic by building small projects or doimg challenges, otherwise you'll get overwhelmed and then get stuck.

[strange sinew]

no like i have projects in mind and ik the basics but it's using libraries and stuff that confuses me bc with the basics i just watched youtube vids to understand everything and with libraries, there arent really youtube videos explaining every single function

[crystal hedge]

2 months is not a lot of time to have spent learning python

[strange sinew]

thats when i understood all the basics, i've been learning python for 4 months

but still not too long

[crystal hedge]

have you learned OOP?

[strange sinew]

nah

wait

[crystal hedge]

I'd recommend that first then

[strange sinew]

object oriented programming?

[crystal hedge]

yes

[strange sinew]

yes ik that

this stuff is genuinely so hard

how do you guys do this

[crystal hedge]

practice

dedication

research

curiosity

[strange sinew]

like bro the os module was so easy then i started working with

sockets

and idk what anything means

how is it so hard

[fallow elk]

I don't think any of us goes to read the actual docs, as in, the whole document of all functions etc etc. More finding out how to do certain things. See if there are any examples in the docs is usually your first bet. The "Getting Started" section if they have one. After that, you can look for specific function names, they should be named appropriately. (example for pandas: read_csv() will, read a csv.. etc)

[crystal hedge]

because connecting unrelated software isn't necessarily an easy task

[glad ice]

sockets are pretty complicated, but overall when using a library for something, you must understand how that "something" works before you try to touch the library at all

For example, if you didn't know how multiplication works, you would not be able to create nor even use a calculator - it's the same for more complicated computer things, you must learn it conceptually first before using tools built around those concepts

[fallow elk]

After you get some basic knowledge and a sample setup, which does not entirely do what you want but at least something is working. You start to find out how you can tweak it for what you really need.

[strange sinew]

so with this in mind should i try to learn html and css before doing the requests library

[glad ice]

a little but not really, requests requires for you to understand how HTTP and HTTPS works, not necessarily html/css

[strange sinew]

so you learn http and https before you learn requests and not as you learn requests?

[glad ice]

Yes.
You'll likely want to test what you have learned in requests as soon as you learn it, but strictly speaking, you'll have to learn it before you actually use it

[crystal hedge]

most knowledge doesn't have a definitive start and end, so you just need to know enough to get started

[strange sinew]

so what should i do to learn that just watch youtube videos on how http works?

[glad ice]

look up something like Introduction to REST APIs

[strange sinew]

whats an api

[glad ice]

yep, that's precisely why you are having a hard time with requests

[strange sinew]

like stuff like that just makes me feel so stupid

[crystal hedge]

an api is a way to use code to interface with other code

[glad ice]

did you even try looking up a tutorial for requests on google/youtube?

[strange sinew]

yes

[glad ice]

and it did not mention apis?

[strange sinew]

no

they were just doing explaining diff types of requests like get requests, post, etc

and status code

all that

[hardy steppe]

If you want to work with sockets you should read a general introduction to network programming. The sockets module docs aren't enough, they assume you're already familiar with the idea of sockets.

The best guide on this I know is https://beej.us/guide/bgnet/html/split-wide/, although it's in C the sockets interface is similar in Python so it should still be useful.

Alternatively, read https://docs.python.org/3/howto/sockets.html and https://realpython.com/python-sockets/

[glad ice]

but yeah, this is what a API is

a REST API is specifically a type of API built around network requests, with some common rules you do not have to worry about for now

[buoyant topaz]

That's why, you aren't stupid you just haven't heard of apis. Look into them first

[glad ice]

I'd recommend looking into requests before sockets, but +1 for realpython - it also has a tutorial for requests, https://realpython.com/python-requests/

[crystal hedge]

Networking and sockets are large subjects. Literal volumes have been written about them. If you’re new to sockets or networking, it’s completely normal if you feel overwhelmed with all of the terms and pieces.

from that article

[strange sinew]

bro you're really helpful, is this the first thing I should look at when learning requests

[strange sinew]

yeah probably

[glad ice]

For the best experience working through this tutorial, you should have basic general knowledge of HTTP. That said, you still may be able to follow along fine without it.

[dreamy sluice]

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