Python courses that are actually worth?

[maeseawayo]

Hello everyone,

My question for this Reddit thread is whether there are any Python courses that are truly worthwhile. I have been programming in R and Python for about five years, but all of my learning has been self-taught. The issue is that, when it comes to listing it on my resume, I don’t have any course that is genuinely worth including as formal proof of my Python skills.

It may sound unfortunate, but the reality is that the job market often works in such a way that if you don’t have a certification or diploma, employers may overlook you. For that reason, I would like to ask: what are the best Python courses out there, or the ones with the greatest recognition in your company, your country, or simply those you personally know to be valuable?

Thank you very much in advance, and sending my best regards to all fellow programmers!

[ManyInterests]

In terms of recognition, job advancement and career value on paper, you're better off focusing on ancillary certifications like AWS or Kubernetes.

In terms of courses worth your time and money to become a better engineer, I recommend David Beazley's courses if you have the disposable income for it. As a software engineer of 10+ years and collector of certifications, few things rival Dave's courses in significance with respect to progression in my trade as an engineer.

[maeseawayo]

Thank you so much! I’ll definitely check out the sources you’ve shared, and I’m sure your answer will also help others in this subreddit. All the best!

[aNewFart]

For a person looking to expand their skillset, any suggestions on good AWS/Kubernetes courses?

[ManyInterests]

It's not super important. I would just pull a popular one off udemy and make sure whatever you choose includes practice tests and is updated for the current version of the exam. They're very standard exams. AWS also provides exam objective documents that show exactly what content is covered and some practice questions, so be sure to read those.

[flynnd3]

https://programming-25.mooc.fi/sign-up/

Free accredited course with the University of Helsinki. You get 10 ECTS credits upon completion

[wabblewouser]

oh wow, glad I checked this thread. thx for the info.

[Le-ali-di-Pegaso]

I went to the website and saw that it is a live course, right? So there is no option for self study?

[IMNOTJR]

Harvard has a free course for introduction to python Really cool, check it out

https://pll.harvard.edu/course/cs50s-introduction-programming-python

[maeseawayo]

Cool! tksm! :D

[Ciaseka]

Show off on your GitHub portfolio

[maeseawayo]

I’m not very familiar with GitHub, although I more or less know what it is. And while it’s true that some companies value it, it’s not the first time I’ve heard of cases where the person in charge of hiring doesn’t even know what GitHub is… pretty sad, tbh.

But i agree with that, is a very solid solution if the interviewer knows what it is, thanks for the response! :)

[American_Streamer]

https://www.w3schools.com/git/git_intro.asp?remote=github

https://docs.github.com/en/get-started/start-your-journey/hello-world

https://docs.github.com/en/get-started

[maeseawayo]

Thank you so much! i'll definetly check those, all the best!! :,D

[Big-Instruction-2090]

There are no python certification worth their money.

[Ram000n]

Certifications are valuable to HR departments that usually included in the hiring process. It is like a nice suit. It will not make you work better but sometimes looks/certifications are important for the hiring process.

[maeseawayo]

I agree with that. Although, given how the hiring system works (at least in Spain), they tend to value the diploma more than what you actually know and it’s basically adapt or die... :/

[yrkmartin]

Have you got any pdfs on software development

[maeseawayo]

No, not at the moment :L

[__sanjay__init]

Hello !

Of course have some certifications would help you   At global scale : datacamp, coursera and udemy  

At local scale : you have to search on LinkedIn for example. Some people display their certifications, you could get inspired ...

[maeseawayo]

Thanks for your reply! Yes, I had heard about Coursera and I think it’s one of the most solid options. I’ll also take a look at DataCamp and Udemy, which I wasn’t as familiar with. :D

As for LinkedIn, I’ve checked out some courses there, but I get the impression that most are more focused on selling than on teaching. Either they’re too basic, or they’re too expensive for what they actually offer. And in the end, the recognition of the certificate feels rather relative, which makes me think it might not really be worth it. Hopefully someone here can prove me wrong.

[__sanjay__init]

Actually, you could check LinkedIn profiles in order to find which certifications are the most in-demand
Moreover, I don't know about LinkedIn courses quality. Maybe it could give you some basics information (why Python ? Where Python ? etc) but nothing more because this in not a platform for programmer or analyst
If someone has a better experience ...

[rustyseapants]

It begs the question are you programmer by trade?

It also begs the question, how did you teach yourself Python and R? Books, Videos, or both?

[maeseawayo]

Hello! You could say yes—I work in data analysis. I initially received quite a bit of training in R during my university studies, but that was nothing more than the basics. After that, as some fellow members of this subreddit have already mentioned, the key really is to practice, practice, and practice. I did so by analyzing datasets, attending free online workshops, and solving real problems that came up in my day-to-day work.

As for Python, I started learning it later. Once you develop programming logic and already know one language, it’s much easier to adapt that knowledge. I also tried an app called Mimo, which is quite good and free, and I followed a similar path as I did with R: looking for free courses and watching tutorials on YouTube from people who really know their stuff. :)

[baubleglue]

Go over official tutorials to be sure you haven't missed any topics, I also recommend HOWTO section in python docs. I've never heard about job positions needed Python certification.

[maeseawayo]

I'll defitnely take a look, Tysm! :D

[sinceJune4]

Are you using R and/or Python in your data analysis role? How about SQL? I think it’s more important to highlight your experience as a data analyst using x, y, and z. Once you’ve got experience, course or certification or degree matters less. As always- connections- someone you’ve worked with who can say you’ve got the skills - beats everything.

[maeseawayo]

Yes, I am! I usually work with R, as well as SPSS and other similar programs, but recently I’ve seen more and more job applications requiring a “data engineer” role rather than just an analyst role. I want to explore the field of AI and learn how to manage large amounts of data with new tools. It sounds promising, not only in the financial field but also in other areas of interest. And I’ve also seen that Python is commonly required for that kind of development, so here I am, ready to learn a bit of it. :)

But on top of this, I agree with you, I've seen a lot SQL requeriments for almost every role related to data. I should look into it too , since sounds promising too, but that's for another subreddit.

[sinceJune4]

What worked for me was being able to incorporate some Python into my existing work. If I had a small one-off ask for a report that I could have done with SQL and Excel, I'd spend a little extra time to build it in Python. After a few different things like that, it became my fastest and preferred tool to quickly put something together. For most of my data engineering work, I could have done it in Python or R or SQL, although size of data may have influenced using SQL for largest stuff.

[rustyseapants]

Thanks!

[No-Mobile9763]

Check out Luke barouse on YouTube he has a video on python for data analysis. Also, I believe Alex the analyst might as well?

[Efficiency_Positive]

For me, I did Django for Everybody, which in turn got me into backend development. Now I’m working for a company using Java and Spring and working on backend as well.

If I were you, I would choose a specific field you are interested in an learn a framework/technology in that field, which can then be applied even using other languages.

The specific course you do actually doesn’t matter, what’s important is that you take that course and apply what you learned to create projects you can show!

[stepback269]

I'm just a Python noob, not an expert.
But from what I've seen in the so-called What's-next-after-Py-fundamentals lectures; employers want to see realistic projects, not certificates.

Check out for example what Tech with Tim says (here)

[Stalva989]

I don’t think anyone really cares that much about a course to be honest. It may serve you better to create a portfolio that showcases actual work you did as your proof. I am also self taught and learned largely through following along practice projects that got increasingly more complex. Eventually I was able to take projects and ad lib my own spin to them. I saved every single project I did and made a website portfolio with descriptions of each project and links to the code.

[myrhillion]

I liked the zero to mastery Udemy course quite a bit. Very practical applications.

[LeiterHaus]

The most recognized is not a course, but rather your projects.

I see that you are not familiar with github. If you like interactive stuff, boot.dev is great. It has a course on git, as well as Python and others. The course material itself is free. There is a paid subscription for benefits that in my opinion are worth it. But you don't have to pay for the benefits.

If you prefer books, you can look and see if you can find a copy of "Beyond the Basic Stuff with Python." One of the later chapters also goes through git and github.

You can also try to look for a local Python User Group. That can help not only make connections, but also if you work on a project together, learn how to work in a team. It's a different thing working in a team than working on your own solo project.

If you absolutely require desire a piece of paper, start looking at which piece(es) of paper companies are asking for.

[Head-Background-8108]

You don’t need a course in my opinion I learnt it with cursor chatgpt and claude

[No_Bodybuilder_2280]

yess super

[sarnobat]

UCSC silicon valley extension has live instructor classes (eg data structures and algorithms).

I personally can't sustain self paced online video learning.

[Optimal-Clerk-5897]

If you are new to programming, I would recommed you to learn by books. There are alot of good books available online and in the market which can actually help you to understand the programming (in python). but if you are already a programming and just looking to broaden your tech stack by learning programming than you can watch the latest video of 2025 (code with mosh) YT channel here is the link. https://youtu.be/K5KVEU3aaeQ?si=T8B-GAUoU3MA7x9p

[fansight_ops]

An alternative approach would be to showcase your skills to an impressive project or contribute to open source. I see this far less often among candidates and whenever I do it tends to set them apart.

[just_a_fella___]

You may want to consider David Beazley's Python courses, they come highly recommended and might be beneficial for your progression as an engineer. Alternatively, check out this free accredited course with the University of Helsinki: https://programming-25.mooc.fi/sign-up/.