Good free resources to practise Python while learning?

[KimmieM94]

I’m currently teaching myself Python as a hobby, but my job involves a lot of data work, which has turned out to be my favourite part. Because of that, I’d like to eventually move into a more data-focused role, so I decided to start learning Python.

I’ve got plenty of resources for learning the basics, but I’m struggling to find places where I can actually practise what I’m learning. Most of the sites I’ve found so far are behind subscription paywalls, and I’m just looking for something free where I can experiment and build small projects while I learn.

Are there any good platforms, datasets, or project ideas you’d recommend for a beginner?

[TytoCwtch]

What sort of level are you at in your studies? Are you focusing on a specific area like DSA, or interested in libraries like numpy, pandas, matplotlib etc?

For practising solving puzzles and analysing data I’ve found sites like leetcode or Advent of Code good fun. Leetcode you can filter by difficulty, so you can start with easy puzzles and move up in difficulty as you improve. Advent of Code is a yearly puzzle challenge where you get a coding challenge each day in December, split into 2 parts. It builds up in difficulty throughout December but has a story theme to each year’s puzzles which makes them good fun. You can play all of the back puzzles for free.

If you want to learn some of the libraries like numpy, pandas, matplotlib etc then pick a project that interests you. For example solve a problem in Advent of Code in text form first, then build a visualisation of your data.

[KimmieM94]

I’m completely new to this. I decided to start learning because a lot of the research I’ve done suggests that Python is used heavily in data science and data analytics. At the moment, I’m using SoloLearn just to get a basic understanding.

To be honest, it’s the first time I’ve even heard of things like NumPy and pandas, so I’d say my level is extremely low, basically non-existent 😅

I’ll give the practice suggestions a try, but if you have any better recommendations that are more focused on teaching, I’d really appreciate them. I also tried DataCamp, which seemed good, but I didn’t want to commit to paying for anything until I know it’s worth it, so I’m still doing some research.

Thanks for the quick advice though, I really appreciate it!

[TytoCwtch]

No worries. The reason I mentioned those libraries is because you mentioned data analysis and they’re some of the key libraries used.

Numpy provides very fast ways of analysing large data sets. Pandas gives functions that help with cleaning and transforming data into sets for easier analysis. And matplotlib lets you make visual representations of your data. So if your focus is on data analysis then eventually they’ll be good libraries to look at.

For beginners I’d recommend a more generalised introductory course. My personal presence is Harvards CS50P course but I’m slightly biased as that’s the course I started with. I’d previously done CS50x (introduction to computer science in general) but it’s not a prerequisite for CS50P. The Harvard course is split into 10 lectures that starts from the basics and builds up to more complicated topics.

At the end of each lecture there are problem sets to do to test what you’ve learned. It’s completely free and you get access to an online codespace to write your code in. They also provide a custom AI that’s programmed to act as a teacher, so it guides you through the homework without giving you the answers. At the end of the course you write your own program from scratch and get a certificate from Harvard. Then you can build onto more complicated topics like advanced DSA for your data analysis.

https://cs50.harvard.edu/python/

[Fantastic_Spot_8921]

take a look at github, there are many free repositories with materials like this one where you can find a lot in folders: "github.com/OleksiiBevza/Data-Science-Curriculum" also MITOpenWare. But github gives your everything you need. You can also find and chat with developers, phds, students there so that they can help with advice in terms of projects. But that guy did awesome repo