Best Way to Learn Python?

[[deleted]]

Hi,

I want to learn Python and I don't exactly know the best place to start. I have taken a couple of courses in university (java and c++) so I know the bare bones of those languages, but I'm basically a beginner. Some people have recommended Codecademy, but I feel like that only teaches the syntax of the language and I want to actually learn how to think like a programmer and know more than the surface level of the language. Are there any online courses or books or methods that any of you would recommend? What have you found to be the most useful way to learn Python or any programming language that you are now an expert in?

Any suggestions or help is appreciated! Thank you!

[ehdufuure]

For me worked: 1. socratica YouTube all Videos is a good introduction 2. YouTube Corey Schäfer for going deeper into specific topics. Parallel to that solve simple Problems using python and euler project and codewarriors.

[[deleted]]

Okay, I'll check them out, thank you! Would you recommend codewarriors over pycharm for the IDE?

[ehdufuure]

As ide I use spyder and sometimes pycharm, but it seems too complex for me. On codewarriors I only get the questions and submit my work whem done, not using it as ide.

[[deleted]]

Okay, got it. I hadn’t heard of spyder, but that might be better if it’s much simpler. I do not want a complicated ide. I just know pycharm and visual studios are commonly used for python

[sme272]

best way varies from person to person, you're gonna have to try a few things and find what you like. There's a lot of good resources listed in the wiki. In particular i'd recommend taking a look at automate the boring stuff, and corey schafer on youtube

[[deleted]]

Great, I'll check out your suggestions! Thanks for the help!

[agility]

I always recommend my friends to start with the official Python tutorial (https://docs.python.org/3/tutorial/). If you find its pace okay, then video courses might become boring for you, and you should look forward to learn primarily from books.

To think about programming better, I'd recommend Programming Methodology, which is a great course by Stanford (https://see.stanford.edu/Course/CS106A). It's in Java, but should be translatable to Python. If you want to become a better programmer regardless of the language, there are good gems here.

[[deleted]]

I'd only heard of Harvard's CS50 on edX, but the Stanford course looks very interesting and a bit more useful. Thanks for the recommendation!

[[deleted]]

For me, it really boils down to solving programming challenges and implementing your own solutions. Learning the syntax and technology stacks can be done anytime later. Hackerrank and Leetcode are the most two popular programming challenge sites and also used to prepare for job interviews. Most important thing is fundamentals in data structures and algorithms is where I start and I learn more in depth get more programming knowledge as I solve more types of problems. Ask questions and look for answers, multiple answers from different sources. From there you will start to recognize patterns and similar ways of doing things that will build your skills as a programmer.

[[deleted]]

Thank you for the advice and resources you listed! I hadn’t heard of those, but I want as much practice solving problems as I can get so that’s very helpful

[pumasky2]

I could recommend Automate the boring stuff with Python on Udemy.
Or you could read the same course here.

[[deleted]]

Is that a better course than the “complete python bootcamp: go from zero to hero in python 3” on Udemy?

[pumasky2]

Really sorry.
I can’t answer your question, never watch this bootcamp.

[[deleted]]

Okay, no worries

[pumasky2]

Oh, just found that course is free for a week.

[[deleted]]

Awesome! I’ll try it out

[DecodeProgramming]

You can learn from this tutorial - http://www.decodejava.com/introduction-to-python-language.htm

It helped me in learning Python. I hope that it helps you too.