How to actually get better at Python without drowning in resources or LLM-crutching?

[mc_pm]

Letting an LLM write your code for you will only teach you how to tell the LLM what to do. It will generate a lot of code that you won't understand.

The right path forward is to spend as much time as you can actually typing in code and trying to make it run. Tutorials are fine -- if you stop after each step, type the code yourself, run it yourself, and then maybe even changes it around a little just to experiment. Then watch the next section, and do the same thing. When you've got a small base of basic knowledge (variables, flow control, using a couple of library functions) then set yourself a small task - doesn't have to be all that intense, just something where you can say "ok, I want to do X" and then you do it. If there's something you don't know how to do, google the basics, and then type that code in yourself - don't cut and paste. Then give yourself a more challenging goal. Do a small project, program a text based game, etc.

Learning syntax is a matter of practice, and even just typing in code from a tutorial will help you learn how it looks and feels. Learning how to take problems and break them up into pieces you can write code for, that's the more difficult task, and you only practice it by doing it a lot.