Building with AI – A Developer's Diary
Python for PHP Devs — 7-Day Quick Plan
Developer • 30–60 min/day • reading + doing. A fast-track from PHP habits to Pythonic thinking.
Best starter resources (direct links)
- Python Official Tutorial (start here)
- Python: Informal Introduction (syntax)
- Python: Control Flow (if/for/while/functions)
- Python: Data Structures (lists/tuples/sets/dicts)
- Python: Modules (import/package basics)
- Python: Input/Output (files + formatting)
- LearnPython.org (interactive drills)
- Exercism Python Track (practice + mentorship)
- w3resource Python Exercises
PHP → Python: key differences to internalize fast
- No
$in variable names; no required semicolons. - Block structure is indentation +
:, not braces. foreach (...) {}mindset →for item in iterable:- String concat is usually
+or f-strings:f"Hello {name}" - Dicts are your associative array equivalent.
- No
++/--; use+= 1/-= 1. - Exceptions are explicit and central to control flow for error handling.
Day 1
Day 1 — Syntax + Python mental model
Goal: Stop "thinking in semicolons/braces".
Read (20–25m)
Do (15–25m)
- 8–10 tiny snippets: variables, strings, f-strings, input/output.
Day 2
Day 2 — Control flow and loops
Goal: Become fluent in for ... in.
Read (20m)
Do (20–30m)
- 6–8 exercises with
if/elif/else,for,while,range().
Day 3
Day 3 — Data structures that replace PHP array habits
Goal: Choose list vs dict vs set quickly.
Read (20–25m)
Do (20–30m)
- List transforms, dict lookups, set-based dedupe.
Day 4
Day 4 — Functions + modules
Goal: Write reusable Python modules cleanly.
Read (20m)
Do (20–30m)
- Create utility functions, split into
utils.py, import and reuse.
Day 5
Day 5 — Pythonic style + practical PHP translation
Goal: Translate habits, not just syntax.
Read (15–20m)
Do (25–35m)
- Port one small PHP script to Python (validation + transform + formatted output).
Day 6
Day 6 — Files, JSON, and exceptions
Goal: Build confidence in real data tasks.
Read (15–20m)
Do (25–35m)
- Read JSON file, transform data, write new file with
try/except.
Day 7
Day 7 — Mini project for your real workflow
Goal: One useful script you can keep using in OpenClaw workflows.
Build (45–60m)
- CLI tool that turns structured notes into a markdown/HTML summary.
- Modules refresher
- Exercism (extra challenge ideas)
Stretch
- Add command args + one test file.
Suggested exercise split each day
- 30 min day: 15 min read + 15 min coding
- 45 min day: 20 min read + 25 min coding
- 60 min day: 25 min read + 35 min coding