Hey everyone! I've been diving into Python and software engineering for about six months now. I've completed some foundational projects, explored web scraping, built a few basic Flask apps, and worked with pandas for data manipulation. As I look ahead, I'm feeling a bit uncertain about my next steps. My ultimate goals include being able to build and launch SaaS products either solo or with a small team, eventually create intelligent AI agents for data interaction, and become a solid software engineer before jumping into advanced AI work. I'm trying to figure out the best learning path without getting stuck in 'tutorial purgatory' or wasting time on unnecessary topics. Here are some specific questions I have: What should I focus on next in software engineering to build real, scalable products like SaaS? How do I transition from learning to actually creating usable tools? When is the right time to start diving into AI/ML agent development? And how can I tell when I'm ready to tackle more complex projects? If anyone has been on a similar journey and could offer mentorship or advice, I'd really appreciate it!
1 Answer
I’d recommend not rushing into AI just yet. Focus on backend frameworks like FastAPI or Django, get comfortable with databases like PostgreSQL, and dip into some DevOps basics with tools like Docker or GitHub Actions. Try to build something functional like a dashboard or an internal app, then get at least one person to give it a try. Once you feel confident in deploying full applications, that’s a good point to start easing into AI agents by tackling small tasks first.
Thanks! Would you suggest I focus on Flask, Django, or FastAPI? I've worked a bit with Flask and Django, but I'm not quite sure which would be best for building apps.