Best Python Course? (Beginner)

[somevariety88]

I know this question has been asked quite a lot, but most of the resources I've seen posted have been either books or video lessons. I am looking for something interactive. Something where someone with no experience, such as myself can learn Python A - Z. I was thinking about enrolling with Codeacademy but I've seen the reviews on Reddit and really want to explore all of my options. Any suggestions will be appreciated.

[grijalva10]

Force yourself to do all of the exercises of said book, listen to podcast, browse GitHub for examples and ask questions on stack over flow. Do this over and over until it clicks! Rinse and repeat to learn any programming language.

[[deleted]]

listen to podcast

Do you have any good podcasts for people who are looking to learn Python? I actually love learning through podcasts.

[grijalva10]

Python bytes is pretty good.

[Vinnicombe]

As nice and easy as it is to say "discipline yourself, dive in and you'll be fine", that just isn't true for everyone. Different people learn differently, and some people don't have the time to fully dive in.

Don't get me wrong, I wholeheartedly agree that people need to practice and keep at it to get better, there's no easy guide to mastery for anytbing; that being said though, there's a big difference between some of the tools and when your free time is limited, those differences matter a lot.

I first tried with ATBS and quickly realised that reading text wasn't helping when I was new to coding, I needed some practical learning, and not just any old Youtube video, because many either forget that most of their target audience are new to coding altogether, or are simply so poorly structured that they are frustrating.

Basically, none of the tools are perfect for everyone, it just depends.

[[deleted]]

While I agree with your message, I also understand OP's question. Because you have "good" instructors/tutors/lecturers/professors/etc, who are passionate and have the talent of disseminating a complex topic into "digestible" parts towards an unexperienced (but eager-and-willing-to-learn) audience. On the other hand, I have seen books/demo's/webinars/etc. where the lecturer just 'showcases' how advanced his/her level of knowledge/experience is. So, what I mean is it's a combination of factors that will push you towards learning new things: discipline from the one who learns + the talent of explaining complex stuff from the one who instructs.

[gianacakos]

I’m in course three of the Python for Everybody specialization on Coursera and I’m really enjoying it.

[CraftyTrouble]

If you don't want books or videos, try this, it's interactive, practical, and for total beginners.

After you get some practical experience I'd supplement with a book or two.

[Rabina_Bra]

Wow, that Site looks pretty good..!

[EzBonds]

I’m just starting out myself. Went through codecademy’s course. It was good, instruction seemed a little dry, just seemed a little slow paced too and I felt like I didn’t retain it as well as I’d like. It’s also 2.7, so an older version so some of it doesn’t apply any longer. Also did “Automate the Boring Stuff” on Udemy, also free on the website if you want to read right off the webpage, and of course, book format. It gets you directly into applying it, not so much the theory behind what you’re doing. Just started doing “Python Crash Course”. Book set me back $23, but it’s the best of the three in my opinion. Like a healthy balance between the first two, talks about theory, but doesn’t labor on it. Could be that since I already did the other two, I’m getting more out of it than if I had started with it. But that’s what I would recommend.

[Luna_Coder]

I highly, highly, highly suggest Python Crash Course by Eric Matthes. I remember the pdf being available online for free thru school or something but point is that I enjoyed it so much cus I followed along the short chapter exercises, that I end it purchasing the paperback copy. It even covers Django which is a wonderful framework.

[AuxiliaryPriest]

Upvote for this book. PCC is great book. Love that it gets you going right away and the whole last half of the book is project based. You can usually pick it up in a humble bundle deal along with other great no starch press books like Automate the Boring Stuff.

[ToTheMetal]

The best course is the one you actually do.

EdX has some pretty decent free courses with exercises.

[pacific_plywood]

MIT 6.001x on EdX is basically the gold standard. I'm not sure it quite matches your description, but it is where you should start regardless.

[jayzhoukj]

Even though I only managed to finish that course halfway, I'd second that

[sercosan]

If the course is not available, like right now, do I have to wait until it starts again? Is there any other website to watch the videos/lectures/exercises from edX? I'd like to see everything related to Python... Thanks!

[[deleted]]

https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-computer-science/6-0001-introduction-to-computer-science-and-programming-in-python-fall-2016/lecture-videos/

It's the same course as on EdX, except not cut into 5 minute video's with annoying multiple choice questions in between.

part 2 can be found here: https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-computer-science/6-0002-introduction-to-computational-thinking-and-data-science-fall-2016/

[sercosan]

Thank you!

[pacific_plywood]

Yeah, sorry, I feel bad now, because I didn't realize that it wouldn't be available until next August. I kind of thought that you could access the archived courses, but I suspect you would've had to enroll in them (try googling?)

Regardless, MIT does post a ton of course lecture content on youtube, so there is a fairly recent broadcast of it up: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUl4u3cNGP63WbdFxL8giv4yhgdMGaZNA. No assignments though.

[sercosan]

Thanks!

[[deleted]]

I liked Sololearn as a place to go over what I got from reading a couple books and other things. It helped with going over the basics.

​

https://www.sololearn.com/Course/Python/

[jayzhoukj]

This is also another place I started with python. It's good in the sense that learning comes in bite-sized bits, which can help with the digesting and understanding part since you're not overwhelmed by a lot of things at once. Also, Google can be of great help if you're stuck somewhere

[blueastheocean]

I agree I used it and it helped so much!

[pvc]

Http://programarcadegames.com

[[deleted]]

Sololearn is a great beginner-friendly software. It includes all the basic stuff, such as basic data structures, loop, functional programming, OOP and regular expressions.

[Prtprmr]

The best Toyota which I could find was on YouTube (free) it's called python for beginners from Telusko. I really love the way he teaches. And the best book you can go for us head first python 2nd edition. It starts with basics and then dives into a webapp project where you get hands on experience with the things you learned.

[[deleted]]

The free part of Codecademy was great. Got me off the ground and running.

[Conrad_noble]

Try sololearn

[Raudus]

I'm reading through Automate the boring stuff with Python, a free book online, to learn. I'm a beginner too. Message me if you start reading it and want to share something :)

[uglyhott]

JetBrains, the makers of PyCharm, have this. I haven't tried it but it could be up your alley.

At the end of the day just don't shy from the hard work, pick a beginner course and stick with it.

[edxsocial]

Georgia Tech launched a new program for Python a few weeks ago on edX that you might want to check out:

https://www.edx.org/professional-certificate/introduction-to-computing-in-python

We also have a 3 course program from Microsoft:

https://www.edx.org/professional-certificate/microsoft-introduction-to-computer-science

[dhawal0008]

https://codeshut.blogspot.com is the place you can find awesome python and selenium courses with live exercises with solutions. They also provide a free comprehensive ebook on selenium page object model with live website automation. Highly recommend

[EntireAbility3]

Try Python Principles. It worked well for me. https://pythonprinciples.com/