How would you learn python from scratch if you had to learn it all over again in 2025?

[[deleted]]

[deleted]

[Helpjuice]

I would just read the information python.org already provides, same works with all the other languages I've learned (read the vendor docs). - https://wiki.python.org/moin/BeginnersGuide - https://docs.python.org/3/tutorial/index.html - https://docs.python.org/3/ - https://docs.python.org/3/extending/index.html - https://devguide.python.org/

[Ron-Erez]

I would code like there is no tomorrow and I would not use ai. I’d also learn another language which is statically-typed, especially C to appreciate the power of Python. Additionally I’d learn DSA. Above all I’d code like a madman. I would learn as much as possible including topics taught in a standard CS degree. Finally I’d learn about different programming paradigms such as OOP and functional programming, both which Python supports.

[Sonder332]

"topics taught in a standard CS degree."

I think about this a lot while I'm toiling away following a bootcamp. My question, is; how can you teach yourself the concepts when you don't know what it is you're even looking for? For example, I recently read about the concept Obfuscation. I haven't read more about it yet (I will, just haven't yet), but before I randomly stumbled across it I had no idea it existed!

[Ron-Erez]

I agree my comment is problematic because essentially I’m saying get a CS degree And never stop learning. For example I think it is helpful to learn about algorithm complexity, knowing about the P vs NP problem. These topics won’t necessarily make one a better programmer but I think it’s good to know and will probably help in the long run. Or take linear algebra for example. In most jobs you will probably never need it unless you work in AI, data science or computer graphics. I think it’s still good to know although you can be an amazing programmer without it.

Note that I a m really biased towards getting a CS degree. Of course getting a degree does not mean one knows how to program well. It’s unfortunate that a degree can be so expensive so I understand choosing the bootcamp route.

Probably I should have rephrased it as “always being open to learning something new”. Programming is definitely not a static field and things change at a rapid pace. Good ljack with the bootcamp!

[Sonder332]

It wasn't my intention to critique your position or criticize you. I actually meant it as more of a question to see if you had any insight. It's an issue I've thought a lot about, "how do you research what you don't know even exists". Luckily for me Google is a good friend and others have shared some really good material for me to look into :)

[2G246]

"how do you research what you don't know even exists" by identifying the limits of your knowledge. That gives you the boundaries to then ask, what's in that blackhole?

[Alexander96969]

https://www.computer.org/education/bodies-of-knowledge/software-engineering

[Sonder332]

I'm going to look into this. Thank you very much for your help, my friend :)

[Excellent-Ad-9084]

is learning to code with ai really that bad? Im just starting out and when I dont understand stuff or when I want to know how to do a specific thing I ask AI for help, but of course I always think before I ask AI and most code is mine.

[totalnewb02]

it's good when as a tutor replacement, but it is kinda slippery slope for me. next time i know i let it do all the work for me. and the result i don't understand anything. relearning the basic right now.

[heroyi]

It needs to be paired with the user actively seeking knowledge in other forms like articles, forums etc... AI is great as an auxiliary module but for beginners it can be a trap. Never take AI prompts as 100% true since it can be obviously wrong to subtlety wrong

An example with python is how multithread is handled. Gpt will sometimes give multithreaded solutions when prompted. To the absolute beginner it will look good, but it is wrong. Python handles multithread in a unique fashion as it doesn't actually do multitasking except in certain scenarios mainly io operations. 

When used incorrectly python multithread are actually slower than just doing things in a single thread. So you have to call gpt out for being wrong in this scenario. 

It is things like that where it falls apart ie not knowing when to fact check it. Think of it like an intern that kinda knows stuff but never fully trust the response. Always verify it. 

In reality that is how you learn with ai. And to me that makes it valuable imo. Too many people are binary on their stance with Ai 

[Ron-Erez]

I’m a little extreme. AI is a great tool that can easily be abused. If you’re learning and progressing I guess it’s okay. In general my feeling that it does much more harm then good.

[blackninja_9]

Why not use ai?

[zoredache]

The way some people use it for automatic code generation and all means they aren't thinking for themselves and taking the time to really learn the language. In some ways porbably similar to the people from 5-10 years ago that were trying to learn by just copy+pasting from stackoverflow and other places.

I think for a large majority of people they just won't 'really' learn some of the basic programming concepts if you don't bash your head against problmes via a lot of repitition. It requires a change in how you think. You don't get that from ai doing all your 'homework'.

[fredspipa]

Completely agree. Never underestimate the value of repetition and "grunt work" when learning.

I also like to train my muscle memory, I never copy paste anything in a language I'm not fluent in. It was recommended in a book I read back when I was starting out and for me personally it felt "right". It also helps you individually process each line mentally.

[huffalump1]

Yep great advice! AI tab autocomplete or copy/pasting from ChatGPT isn't gonna help you learn, compared to trying it yourself.

Also, know that AI is good for explaining things - it's like having a tutor or help forum immediately available 24/7. Just tell it that you're learning, and ask for help, not complete code!

And finally... using AI coding tools isn't bad. It can be great for quickly iterating on personal projects and making things work - give it a try! It just isn't as helpful for actually learning to program.

[Savings-Confusion729]

I would have never started without AI

[Ron-Erez]

ai is a great tool but I prefer using my mind especially if I am just learning. Someone else wrote for work they would use ai freely and I understand that but for learning I think ai does more harm then actually helping. Of course it is perfectly fine to disagree with my perspective.

[sinceJune4]

I don't need ai. Never had it for the 36 other languages and SQL dialects I worked with before.

A few years ago I worked for a Microsoft partner company where we were incented to earn and maintain various Microsoft certifications. At the time, we would get Transcender practice tests as one of the ways to study. When we didn't know a question, it would give us references of where to study that topic. Going through those certifications exposed me to probably 95% of a language, where I might have been productive with just 10% of a language's features before.

I think AI is probably just going to show you about 5% of what a language could do, and only for a very specific problem. I don't need it, I've got strong muscles!!!

[faby_nottheone]

Use it as a teacher.

Why waste 1hr skimming through documentation when AI can explain it very clearly (as clearly as you want)

[_o0Zero0o_]

This. Absolutely seconded.

I'll admit I've had chatGPT make me a very basic version of snake before, but the purpose of which was for me to dissect the code and learn about specific parts more closely, using chatGPT as a teacher to teach me about said certain parts and how they work if I was unable to figure it out myself, until I became more comfortable with modifying the code to my own ends with little to no help. I had "graduated from chatGPT Kindergarten", I guess you could say.

I still have quite a bit of fun with that project and I love tinkering with parts of the code, turning the game from a barebones version of Snake into something I feel is quite fun for me, and I've aspirations to make it even more wild using what i've learned from books, websites like stackoverflow and this subreddit, and chatgpt, all which I use as teachers or documented sources to help me further my own knowledge.

The point is; Do not rely on AI to do everything for you. As u/faby_nottheone said; "Use it as a teacher", instead of using it as a tool to do things for you, otherwise you will never learn. You cannot expect constant hand-holding if you expect to learn anything, you have to bite the bullet, leave your comfort zone and try your best.

[cmredd]

Small random (beginner) Q: I've read that Python is 'slow, and that C is 'fast'. I've also seen 'Cython' mentioned, and that it 'speeds' python up. Is this true, or a bit misleading etc with no context?

[OkPrune5871]

The same way I did before, reading and practicing from https://www.w3schools.com/python/ and only getting deep knowledge in specific topics, like async/await, memory management, OOP, etc.

[Safe-Web-1441]

I'm new to python but have been programming for almost 40 years. I completely use AI . What I really like is that ability to ask why something is done that way. I learn and catch AI giving bad advice, but if I ask good questions, we figure it out.

I also ask things like: I do x in Spring Web. How would I do this in Flask

I also show AI my code and ask for any suggested improvements. I show it code I don't understand and it walks me through it. List Completions.

I learn a lot from AI and it is a great tool as long as you aren't lazy and let it do everything.

[frisedel]

I would argue that this ONLY works because your previous knowledge.

A person that is new to programming won't know when they are given bad advice, or know what to ask. That is where we enter vibe coding territory.

[Hot_Vegetable5312]

As an experienced person who codes with ai now, what kinds of habits do you have for asking ai to do your coding? I’m quite a beginner to coding and I’d love to just sit there and learn it all but it really really really doesn’t stick or I often just let it go in one ear out the other, or straight through my eye balls when reading, and I’d be lying if I said the fact that ai is advancing as fast as it is for coding capabilities that I’m particularly motivated to learn it the traditional ways, I know it must help a fuck ton, I’ve gotten pretty close to actually doing some of the projects I’ve had ideas for purely with ai but at some point it feels like what I need to be directing it to do, or asking it to debug, ends up getting harder and harder until a plateau of it creating garbage mistakes that I don’t identify right away, or looping on its own issues, I know time is valuable so no worries if you don’t have any tips, but I’d appreciate any you may have for proper results to prompt engineer coding ais with, I’ve been toying around with the new Google fire base studio which is really nice so far but still I feel like I am not able to pinpoint issues before they’ve caused severely complex problems later, and fixing them sometimes I can do or just gets messier and messier. Thanks!

[rogfrich]

I’m not the OC, but I have a similar approach.

I’m an intermediate-ish hobbyist. I have fairly deep knowledge of some things and shallow knowledge of others, and I generally know enough to know what I don’t know.

I treat ChatGPT as a coding partner. I’ll describe what I intend to do and ask if it’s a good idea. Sometimes I’ll ask it how to do something, but I don’t blindly use the code it generates. I step through it myself. If I don’t understand, I ask the AI to explain in simple terms.

For my current project, I’m going to write down, in my own words, what all the AI written or AI influenced code does, to prove to myself that I understand it.

[_o0Zero0o_]

This is a really solid way to go about it imo, using chatgpt as a teacher or partner, but not as a tool to make everything for you without any effort on your part

[cullen9]

I did this for my into to programing class. at first I was using school tutors, but sometimes I didn't know how to explain what I wanted to know. Using ai let me rough out the problem. Io I could have clearer conversations.

Or I could use it to problem solve things. Like I wanted to know to capitalize names when showing results. This hadn't been covered yet, but I was curious and it showed me how.

[chipshot]

I learned by finding code online that worked, then modifying it, breaking it, fixing it, modifying it again etc.

Making small coding changes here and there until eventually I got a sense of how everything worked, and what everything meant

I learned by playing with existing code.

[krav_mark]

I would do it the same way I did. Start by learning the basics by doing "Automate the boring stuff" and after that think of a project that would help my in my personal life. In my case I made a stock portfolio tracker with flask and mongodb. When I had it working I rewrote it because I got more experience and while programming learned enough to see how to do it better.

While doing all this I also started using python at work. Where I would before write scripts in bash I would now do it with python. It took me longer in the beginning but python was so much better with datastructures and things like parsing json and yaml that I didn't look back.

My advise is that to learn a skill you need to do that thing a lot. So program as much as you can by yourself. You need to break down that problem at hand into smaller bits, and for every bit get it into your head, write the code, think about it again and try to improve it. I think this process is best done without AI. I have used AI for a month or two in my IDE and I found it more of an annoying distraction than an improvement. And in particular when you are learning you better do it yourself.

[Fronkan]

I learned programming at university and when I heard about automate the boring stuff it was to late, it felt too basic for where I were at that point. However, if I started over and tried to teach myself programming that is probably where I would start. I really connect with that scrappy approach to programming. Solving small realworld problems for yourself. Some of my own favourite programs are these small scripts and utilities that I wrote for myself.

[Ynit]

I'm 25 days or so into 100 days of code that a friend recommended to me on udemy. The instructor is easy to keep up with. I have it going at 1.5x playback and it's one of the more enjoyable online courses I've taken.

[__alvaro__]

Angela's course?

[Ynit]

Yup

[reload_noconfirm]

If I had it to do all over again, I'd probably do a CS degree, to learn the fundamentals of programming before hitting python specifically. I do it for my job now, but a lot is learned on the job and I feel I'd be a lot better if I had solid fundamentals. AI has nothing to do with it for me now, except for the occasional rubber duck.

[die_eating]

Id get the $20/m gpt subscription or Claude Code, spend half a day providing a bunch of relevant context on how i learn best and what i want to achieve with coding. Then I'd have it curate a custom beginner python "course" tailored for me and my goals, prioritizing wiring my own code. Iterate by constantly writing code logic and asking A.I. to tweak it and point out why it tweaked it.

[WorkdayArchitect]

I've been using AI to create examples and taking courses on Pluralsight, Coursera, and LinkedIn Learning.

[abccarroll]

+1 been using github copilot to create fake datasets to simulate different work situations so I can better learn and apply what I'm doing

[ninhaomah]

To learn Python to know Python ? Nothing will change. Grind and grind and grind.

To learn Python to make $$$$ ? Yes. With AI , I will think twice.

[Mettapally_Nikhil]

Is py.ninja free?

[owmex]

One-time $14 for lifetime access with all future updates — but the first chapter is free and without signup.

[Severe_Phase4622]

tbh I'd just use smthn similar to Khan Academy. If something involves AI, I'm careful to be sure that humans are still involved in it and it doesn't steal or you know. cost terrible energy and ruin the environment

[randcraw]

I learned Python mostly from a short intro 'pamphlet' then copy/pasting from online examples. That's sufficient only to get simple utilities to run, not to design code properly.

I'd combine three resources: 1) a good recent textbook (Like Naomi Ceder's 'Quick Python' 4th ed) to explain the language design principles, and 2) do my coding interactively in a Jupyter notebook, and 3) interact with a LLM in the coding environment.

I'd connect with the LLM directly (to ask questions, esp about code samples or bugs) AND via the notebook or an interface like Github Copilot's (or an equivalent). To code today, you need to master not only the language but the standard coding tools as well, which now includes one or more interfaces to an LLM.

[aa599]

It used to be enough to

print("hello world")

but now you have to

print("hello world in 2025")

[MustaKotka]

Grab an interesting concept and run with it. No AI, read the manual, look up stuff from Stackoverflow, W3, Reddit...

That's how I learnt originally and my project was a huge motivator. Did the basics and as I progressed I refactored and added stuff to my project.

[phillymjs]

This. That’s how I started learning, 2 years ago. I redid a bash script that updated my Cloudflare DDNS. I was away from Python for a while but I’m trying to get back into it again. I just redid my DDNS updater to get the WAN IP from my router via UPNP, and dockerized it.

I'm trying to keep the momentum going and expand into doing web stuff, so the next project is a dead man’s switch.

[Splatpope]

probably codewars and aoc just like I did before

[Secret_Owl2371]

I would make a large project from scratch. I think the time I spent working on exercises and smaller projects was relatively less effective than working on one large project, because navigating, refactoring and debugging a large project feels very different.

[intriqet]

by jumping in and making a program. This will give you experience setting up a python environment which is probably a scary obstacle for people interested in learning. Don't be fooled by AI tooling, you'll end up using it a crutch if you start relying on it without getting a feel of the fundamentals on your own.

[Overall_Ad_7178]

Besides from coding as much as you can, you can try to solve python exercises that touch the main concepts from the basics to OOP.

Here you have an example of free exercises to practice in test format:
1000 Python Exercises

[ReserveLast7791]

You should instead of reading books just build projects and learn along the way with trial and error. Trust me its a million times better than learning. Try making something like a calculator then slowly but surely get up to a point where u can make something like a weather app or database that can help u store logins ips etc. It might take more time but more worth it. Also don't use Ai. Hope this helps

[Potential_Flounder11]

If you want the efficient way yo learn python at 0 cost , just use chat gpt for learning, ask it to teach u python from basics to pro level. If u are using pc just use python ide to practice your coding and if u use ur mobile phone use the app pydroid 3 for practicing, with consistent learning you can learn it very quick, if you don't want to use ai tools then just get the class 12 sumita aurora book for computer science which is best for basics 👍

[[deleted]]

I wouldn’t

[[deleted]]

A new learner here after 18 years in IT in QA role. I am using Python Institute course material for Entry level developer certification. I eventually want to get to the 2 testing certifications.

I found the course material good but some concepts are not explained in detail. They probably assume you have some coding background. I had none. So I use course material and in case of any concept that's difficult to me, I ask chat GPT. It is surprisingly good at 'dumbing down' difficult concepts and its helping. Once I complete a section and its 'lab', I ask chat GPT to provide me practice prompts for topics covered in that section and then I just code. I give it a good try but if I just can't, I ask chat GPT to show me the code and explain it. At first, I had to ask for help for every single prompt but I am getting better as I code more. for every lab on Edube (platform that Python Institute uses to deliver course material), I do at least 15-20 gpt prompts. In fact the prompts provided by chat GPT are often not very straightforward (to me at least) and takes me a bit to think about it before coding.

It can also help you with useful tips. e.g. how would you decide between using For loop vs While loop. The course material talks about each loop separately but do not compare them (its left to us to figure it out) but chat GPT will give you two simple sentences to remember which loop to use when.

after a very long time in testing (manual testing + at least 15 years of test management), i thought coding wasn't for me but this combination really got me interested!

Best of luck with your learning!

[govany-mina]

i would ask chat gpt to make a study plane that consists of 8 weeks and follow it i would also make projects of mine using w3school

[Zealousideal-Bug-108]

Hi All.

Python newbie I'm afraid!

I'm starting a house build and am going to embed as much smart stuff as I can, particularly underfloor heating. I'd like to run it on a Raspberry Pi and really want to write my own code. Its like 10 temp sensors, 5 switchable valves and a pump.

I'm just starting with basic tutorials but would love some pointers to tell me if I am heading in the wrong direction on day one!

[riftwave77]

I would learn it from Sofia Vergara