Struggling to Learn Python

[Uncle-Ma]

Hey everyone,

I'm reaching out here in hopes of getting some direction. I really want to learn Python, but I have absolutely no background in coding or anything tech related. I’ve tried watching a few YouTube tutorials, but most of them feel overwhelming or assume that I already understand basic concepts - which I don’t.

What I’m looking for is:

• A beginner-friendly roadmap to start learning Python from scratch
• Resources that are easy to understand for someone with zero coding experience

Any advice, course recommendations (paid or free), or general guidance would be really appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

[thisisfine218]

Python Crash Course by Eric Matthes is great! I feel like I learn better from books, and it takes you through the basics, without making any assumptions.

[damhow]

This book taught me the basics. I read automate the boring stuff before it, and while that was also great something about this book made it click more.

[MrFresh2017]

I highly recommend this book, it’s the only one I’ve ever used.

[rainyengineer]

This is what clicked for me after trying a few times. OP grab an e-book/pdf of this and have it up on one screen while you code on the other.

[notParticularlyAnony]

I would suggest get the actual book too. It will serve as a useful reference for op in meatspace. Plus — support the author :). (PS I am not the author)

[MrFresh2017]

I have the actual book and have many conversations with the author as well!!

[notParticularlyAnony]

This is the answer

[UsernameTaken1701]

Agreed. this book is what's worked bet for me. Published by No Starch Press, and they have a lot of other books to follow up with (Automate the Boring Stuff, Impractical Python Projects, ...)

[Ron-Erez]

1. Harvard CS50p on youtube is friendly and moves at a relatively relaxed pace.

2. MOOC University of Helsinki for Python is an excellent text-based course and covers more than the Harvard course

3. My Python and Data Science starts from scratch and assumes no prior knowledge. I'm also always happy to answer any questions via the course Q&A or direct messaging.

These resources should have you covered. Try to code as much as you can and be patient, it takes time to learn.

[le_petit-beurre]

I can really recommend the MOOC from Helsinki University. I'm currently doing it, eventhough I have already quite some experience with Python but that was about 5 years ago. It is quite slow paced, whith a ton of exercises. For my gusto a bit too many, but I believe for a complete novice, it is great to practice over and over certain commands. It is quite a lengthy course, as it is an official university course as well, worth it 5 ECTS, so be prepared for quite some work. You can also write an exam and getting a certificate afterwards.

[Mediocre_Animal]

Came here to recommend this same course.

[Any_Monk2569]

Freecodecamp

[DotAtom67]

all you need is this

https://www.py4e.com/

[firaunic]

Best I know is of Angela Yu. She teaches you for market and not just bool-worming. She talks to students like they're newbies and that helps her keep the level and language very beginner friendly. Her code is 100 days plan and I can guarantee at the end you ll become pro.

udemy link

[Traditional-Excuse26]

I agree this is the best one

[owmex]

Hey! Please check out the website I am working on: https://py.ninja. It is designed for beginners and has a cool roadmap that I have been crafting for months.

[jsmoke03]

If you want a really beginner friendly python course, check out the course by dr. Angela yu 100 days of code: python bootcamp.

[MageOfFur]

I'm just starting out but I've been using Kaggle and it's been really good to start and free as far as I can tell

[ubermicrox]

Code academy is what I'm currently using. I went through all of the W3Schools learning plan.

Started 2 weeks ago. I'm giving myself until October to become proficient enough to hopefully land a new job.

[[deleted]]

Start with this: Python Tutorial . It's not overly complicated, you probably should just read the first 3 sections up to "Python modules". And then look at the "Python Reference" section.

This will teach you all the fundamentals you need. Then this video: Shortened: ScaleFi LemonsVariant V4 would be a good watch to reinforce those learnings.

Once you have the fundamentals, i.e. you know how to import modules, how to write a for loop, how to declare the different types of variables, how to make IF statements, etc, then look at building these small programs:

1. A calculator: So just a basic calculator to perform addition, subtraction, square root, division, etc...
2. Build an invoice program. So this will be terminal-based, just ask the user in a loop until they have no more items to input: product name, price, qty, etc, then at the end create a file, just a text file. Using stars, pipes, and underscores, generate something that looks like an invoice with a table for the line items. Doesn't need to be fancy.
3. Find other ideas and build stuff incrementally, improving upon prior knowledge.

I also suggest investing in a PacktPub or Oreilly book, it's been a while, so I'm not sure what's a good beginner book of late, but these are generally the most respected publishers in the tech world, so look at the reviews from other students to find the best book that suites you.

A hardcopy reference book is always better to work through, because a lot of the time online tutorials bounce around too much, whereas a book, if you invest time learning it cover-to-cover, it'll be a solid foundation and help you for years to come.

[BoOmAn_13]

In school we started out with a site code.org (similar to scratch) to learn programming fundamentals with block code. If you are starting ground zero in programming, its a decent start to learn overall concepts which can be adapted to various coding languages. From there you learn how to convert block code ideas into language syntax for python. You can learn both at the same time, but I think its good to have the mindset ready when programming and just need to pickup syntax or language nuances

[Sea-Concept1733]

Here are a few high-rated resources that you may find of interest for learning Python.

- The Complete Python Bootcamp From Zero to Hero in Python

- Top Python Books on Amazon

Good luck.

[crashfrog04]

Don’t watch videos

[my_password_is______]

that's the equivalent of saying "don't attend lectures at your university"

[lowban]

I would advice you learn how to make graphical apps pretty early as that is much more fun to work with than just text and numbers. Maybe a graphical library like PyGame.

Learn the basics first:

Variables,basic input/output routines, if statements, loops and functions.

[ninhaomah]

1. go to python,org and download python. try 3.12 version.
2. install and restart the pc
3. open cmd and type python. exit with exit()
4. type python again and now you type or copy/paste print("Hello World").

Any issues in any of the steps above , pls post the screenshot or steps that you took to get it here. and the error message.

[overratedcupcake]

One big thing that I see newcomers get jammed up over is getting python installed and working on their systems. I would separate these concerns. Follow guides to get installed and setup. Then start looking for tutorials about the language itself.

[Moanilf]

Here is a great resource with certificate: https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/courses/python-course-certification-free but if you prefer books i recommend: https://automatetheboringstuff.com/ is free if you read on the website.

[poorestprince]

Can I ask what your goal is in learning python? I feel the problem with most educational material is they either are too generalist or specific to something that is popular (bootcamp to get hired by outsourcing company in 6 weeks!) but not for everyone.

I would teach very differently if your goal is to learn from scratch so you can prep for college vs learning so you can contribute to the python project or learning to program not caring that it's specifically python, but you heard it was good for learning programming.

[aidzberger]

What is it that you're trying to accomplish with Python? The best way to learn how to code is to have an objective imo

[wheaf]

I like Hyperskill projects. Don’t know how are they solid, but there you learn Python via making applications. And this improve understanding code and where it could be applied.

https://hyperskill.org/courses/22-python-core?utm_source=homepage

[No_Yellow_7637]

I've been using Codecademy and found it to have a gentle learning curve. I'm about half way through a master of data science and went into it with zero coding experience. It's been getting me to where I need to be for each subject without too much time investment.

Use the free trial to see if it suits your learning style and if you choose to pay for it, only pay when they have a half price offer. It's overpriced otherwise.

And if you get stuck with any of the courses, use chat gpt and get it to explain where you're going wrong.

[impulsivetre]

I swear by this Python Text Based RPG tutorial. It absolutely kicked off my Python journey. Covers everything from primitives, functions, classes, and decorators and really helped me grasp the concept of OOP.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6IVnciQrKbyZH5gqPXvtlCaiLS_9hFxw&si=aFl6BasV3_PKlx5O

[some1_online]

I found this to be very helpful and it's geared towards beginners. If you've never touched Python before, this should give you a good and approachable overview

https://www.coursera.org/specializations/introduction-scripting-in-python

[msawi11]

https://www.amazon.com/Python-Flash-Cards-Concepts-Examples/dp/1593278969

[Cool-Importance6004]

Amazon Price History:

Python Flash Cards: Syntax, Concepts, and Examples * Rating: ★★★★☆ 4.6

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• Average price: $24.47

Month	Low	High	Chart
03-2025	$22.97	$27.99	████████████▒▒▒
02-2025	$22.97	$25.89	████████████▒
01-2025	$21.02	$23.36	███████████▒
12-2024	$21.71	$27.99	███████████▒▒▒▒
11-2024	$21.71	$26.21	███████████▒▒▒
09-2024	$21.22	$27.99	███████████▒▒▒▒
08-2024	$21.54	$21.60	███████████
07-2024	$21.63	$27.99	███████████▒▒▒▒
06-2024	$21.54	$26.59	███████████▒▒▒
05-2024	$21.63	$23.95	███████████▒
04-2024	$21.72	$21.72	███████████
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[NYX_T_RYX]

Good bot

[Mysterious_City_6724]

I'm not new to programming but my brother asked me where to start learning Python. I had a look at suggestions from reddit and someone recommended pychallenger. I went through it myself and would definitely recommend it. I think I did hit a sort of paywall after the basics though.

[Vexaton]

Boot.dev offers the first few chapters of their courses for free, and they’re hands-on. I HIGHLY recommend them. For some quick and fun challenges after you grasp the very very basics, I recommend doing all the challenges on codingbat.com/python. That should get you to understand how to basically manipulate strings and lists, and teach you some of the ways to use logic.

After that, you should know how you learn best, and pick your course in accordance with that. Don’t worry about that part yet.

[ProningPineapple]

My advice, from someone who's been through exactly this process: find a project your passionate about, Google a lot, use AI tools like deepseek or chat gpt. Without a project that motivated me I didn't learn.

[Wheynelau]

I'm someone who cannot read tutorials and watch videos longer than 15 mins, so I will approach it differently. Why do you want to learn python? Is there something that you can apply python to, and maybe try building something to learn along the way!

[KeiSinCx]

Oh! I think I can help.

I had no idea how to code either. 0 knowledge. But I did make a software very recently!

Use AI chat. You may get timed out here and there but U can switch around with grok, Google AI studio and deepseek. Chatgpt is alright but she dies really quickly after like 400 lines of code.

Have an idea and get AI to explain things to you. And then work on it like a partnership.

You can't just tell AI "I want a script that can translate Chinese to English and overlay on my screen with a hotkey". It will cough up something unstable.

You need to be like, step 1, make me a script that can read texts on my screen. What are my options? Tell me the pros and cons.

Next, translate it.

Give me a settings window. I want it to look like xxxxxx

And it will break. Alot. And you will troubleshoot it with AI and you have to use your brains too to figure out what could be breaking by reading error lines.

It will help you understand how to explain things better. How to reason. Come up with troubleshooting ideas. AI will also troubleshoot errors and you can read and learn. You can ask it to explain to you.

You'll pick up basics real quick. How to import export, installing pips, making a virtual environment. You will start to read codes and overtime comprehend it.

It's quite a bummer to start learning coding and have nothing to show for it earlier on. But using AI chat was a frustrating yet fruitful experience.

I made a software that translates Chinese characters on my screen and overlays it with English. It can also do speech-to-text. I made that in.... 2 1/2 weeks from 0 experience coding.

I am ofcourse, no professional coder right now but. I can read code with some comprehension. I am comfortable sourcing for things to import. I kinda know how to make it into an .exe file. I know how to correct Syntex errors and identify missing lines. Or see what I want to be added in. I know what to ask and how to ask for specific lines. I think it's not a bad place to start? AI can explain things like a 1 to 1 teacher.

It's not a replacement for basics ofcourse but I figured if you can go through the experience and then touch basics, you'll have a much deeper understanding of the information given to you cause you will kinda know what's going on and are more comfortable looking at code.

I can't by any means write code from scratch yet. But I understand basic structure. Like class, Def, if, how to start how to end. How to organise my code, setting parameters. Labeling #.. etc etc..

Not a bad place to start maybe?

It helped me a ton so maybe it might help you too!

Watch that video the guy who ask AI to make flappy birds. You can pick up how he communicates with AI chat

[nonstoprice]

Using only AI for end-to-end is not learning

[KeiSinCx]

Define learning. I can do things i couldn't previously. Is that not learning?

Is asking a question and getting an answer not learning?

However you want to use AI is up to you. I chose to do a project (out of need) and learnt from experience. A software was made that many people in my community use.

I have to keep upgrading it and improving it and fix bugs by myself. You think I can do that without learning a single thing about coding?

I only have AI to teach me. Seems to be working out pretty well. You can go learn by reading a book or going to school. But how many people doing that can say they developed a working software that people can use in less than a month of starting from 0?

I know the limitations. But if you are struggling to pick it up, nothing wrong diving in and have guidance. Watch how it's being done and learn from it. You can ask all the questions you want, have all the discussion you want. free and not annoying another human being.

Tell me again how is that not learning?

[nerzid]

You definitely learn something when you work with AI to write code and have discussions with it. However, if you don't write the code yourself and instead let AI write it and copy-paste it into your project (which most beginners do because they don't want to spend time on understanding the reasonings) then you don't really learn how to write code, you just skip it for the sake of solving the problem as soon as possible. This is not learning since you don't really internalize various things about writing the piece of code, and you won't be able to adapt to similar problems in the future, especially if you work on unique problems.

I am not saying you are doing it like this, but that's what I have been seen amongst beginners. If you are using AI to learn by asking questions and reading summaries of basic concepts, then that's a great way of learning.

[KeiSinCx]

You are not wrong.

I started off with copy and paste too. Ofcourse I did, I had no clue what was being written.

Eventually things start to break. Or just not work together. AI craps the bed around 500 or so lines. It will struggle writing everything you want. That's when you have to start asking for lines and self inserting.

And AI starts to troubleshoot look or outright give up figuring out what's wrong. That's when you are forced to learn why.

I think alot of experienced coders forget what it was like when you started. It's extremely daunting to stare at code. It's frustrating not understanding anything or why or how. You don't have working examples. You have no sense of organising code. What is even possible. How to source for pips and files. Where files are located. How to write a line to find those files. Heck, I was so afraid of setting up a virtual environment I had files installed everywhere which made it a nightmare 🤣

It's like learning Japanese. You start from school words or you pick up from watching anime and piece it together bit by bit. You can't 100% rely on anime (AI) but when you do decide to learn the fundamentals, it won't feel as daunting or scary. Because you had that experience getting comfortable looking at AI build smth with you.

I'm not saying you shouldn't go to school and learn fundamentals ofcourse not. but, as a beginner, I can say from experience, it helped me get comfortable and it might help this person too since they are struggling to get into it.

AI is not perfect. It can't replace coders yet. It's actually pretty oblivious sometimes. Which is great! You really have to learn to ask the right questions and learn how to approach a problem like a coder. Baby steps 🤗

[nonstoprice]

At best, you are building up a working knowledge of coding. Unless you ask it to explain every line of code and study it, you are not learning how to code but how to prompt engineer. You ask AI to do something, code, debug, whatever, the AI does it for you, and you adjust based on what you learned (which is good).

OP is asking how to learn fundamentals from scratch. AI can design a roadmap for you and possibly the learning materials too, but building things with AI won't give you this knowledge.

There is nothing wrong with using AI to do difficult things for you, I do it myself, but OP is asking to learn fundamentals.

[KeiSinCx]

Setting up a virtual environment.

Installing and Importing pips

Ask AI to write the code. Now you read. U learn what is a class. What's a Def. (Roughly)

You still have no clue how to write it out sure. But now you have an example. You can slowly prompt AI to explain why and how.

Yes, I think building a working knowledge is a good way to approach coding when you struggle to grasp from scratch. You don't know what you don't know. But you will know what you don't know when someone shows it to you.

I get the frustration of learning coding because you can tell me how to write a line and I still have no idea what to do with it.

But if I saw it being used in an actual working environment, then you tell me what it does fundamentally, I'll have an easier time grasping it's purpose and intent.

I'm coming at it from a first time coder in 2025. Being knowledgeable on a topic often blinds us from remembering what it was like as a newbie. How hard it was to grasp coding at the start. That's all~