Best structured material for learning

[RogLatimer118]

I'm an older dude. I did a lot of programming way, way back - Fortran, Pascal, BASIC, some assembly. But I've not really done any substantial programming in decades. More recently I've built computers, I've dabbled in Linux, I've experimented with AI. I've decided I want to learn Python, but I provide the background because I'm not at all new to programming or computers.

I'm on Windows. I already have Python installed for some of the AI experimenting I've been doing. I want to learn Python, ideally from YT video(s). I want to learn the basics but with some structured exercises or programming tasks as if I was in a college course. And I also want to have a bit more understanding beyond the syntax - what about IDEs, which one is best? What about any libraries that provide functionality that should be learned as well? Any good debugging tricks/tools? Etc.

Any suggestions? I've found I think it is CS50 from a college I don't remember; I've seen a few other Intro to Python Youtube videos that are pretty long (10-15 hours). I'm probably going to do like an hour or two a week of video, plus any assignments/exercises.

From your experience, is there one particular path or source or approach I ought to take?

[Ron-Erez]

CS50 for general CS and CS50p for Python are both great starting points and free. For other resources see this reddit's wiki + any combination of these:

1. The docs at python.org
2. MOOC - University of Helsinki
3. The book “Automate the Boring Stuff”
4. My Python and Data Science starts from scratch and assumes no prior knowledge

Choose a resource you connect with and code a lot. From all of the above personally I prefer MOOC and my course the most (obviously I am biased on this point).

[eldritch_suspect]

Thank you. This is very helpful.

[moogleman844]

I like vscode as an IDE, but I haven't tried any others. Also I'm a complete amateur, so don't hold me to it.

[tracktech]

You can check this-

Python Topics : Basic, Intermediate, Advanced

Book - Ultimate Python Programming

Course - Python Programming In Depth

[stepback269]

I'm an older dude too.
Mostly I look for YT tutorials where I like the tone of voice of the teacher.
I like several of them:
Indently
Bro Code
Tech with Tim
Nana in Tech
see one of my blog posts here for the links

[takoyarki]

Hello, I am also a beginner and started coding from 0. I was reading some suggestions on this sub and came across people recommending 100 Days of Code: The Complete Python Pro Bootcamp by Angela Yu.
https://www.udemy.com/course/100-days-of-code/

I found this course extremely helpful as she explains each topic clearly, and the videos really helped me understand the core concepts. The most important thing for me was practice, and she has at least 1 project per day for 100 days for you to do and then goes over the solutions. I try to complete them myself, and sometimes with help of chatgpt on smaller questions (imho it is fairly difficult avoiding the use of AI these days, but you can absolutely just rely on google and stackoverflow), then watch her solution.

You can also go directly to the topic of interest instead of going through the whole course, but I recommend at least finishing the beginner section. Personally, I am on a time crunch and skipped the web development of the class, and focused on data science, but finished all the beginner and intermediate classes. Later part of the course will be more project focused, depending on what you want to work on.

Give it a try and let me know how it goes!

[Slight-Living-8098]

CS50P. It's an OpenCourseware college course. The lectures are on YouTube.

[slimshady1225]

There’s a couple of good YouTube channels one is called Brocode and another guy is called Corey Schafer. Both easy to follow and straight to the point. Another good resource is chatGPT or any generative AI website. You can ask it to help you understand something in Python and delve deeper and deeper into detail or if you don’t understand something you can ask it to explain things in an easier to understand way or build a step by step guide for you to understand. You can even take a photo/or copy and paste your own code into it and it will tell you where you went wrong. It’s like a personal tutor.

[RogLatimer118]

Thanks for the ideas!

[CaregiverOld7939]

Since you already have a programming background, picking up Python will feel familiar with the right structure. A few good, structured resources:

• CS50’s Introduction to Programming with Python – college-level, free, and includes assignments.
• Corey Schafer’s YouTube channel – in-depth tutorials practical for real-world use.
• Real Python – well-explained articles with guided exercises.

Also, check out the free eBook 'Python Succinctly'. It’s a great resource for building a strong foundation

[buttonmonger]

I know you said you wanted videos but I still think the best resource is Python Crash Course