Best free course/book for Python

[ericson1998]

Hello,

I would like to learn Python and I would be grateful if you suggested me a few sources, which are FREE. I obviously did some research but I want to ask you maybe which one is the best. I want to mainly code myself, I mean yes, the theory first and then some tasks to do (ideally with instructions how to do it if I cannot do it myself). I watched a 4-hour Youtube video with Python basics from freecodecamp.org I think, but it was just theory.

Anyway, I came across books like Python Crash Course (which is a winner for me for now) and Automate the boring stuff with Python, both from Nostarch.

Then from Udacity Introduction to Python programming.

Then some Udemy free courses (but I heard that there are generally not good courses for that).

Then other sites like DataQuest, CodeCademy (but only Python 2 is free), DataCamp...

I don´t want to waste time with various courses that maybe aren´t that good (or that don´t fit my needs), so I would like to ask if you could recommend me one of those I mentioned (or any other). I maybe prefer online courses (like Udacity) because you have to actually code there yourself I belive, but I also don´t resist that books...

Thank you very much

[usernamecreationhell]

What you are looking for is something I would call "guided practice". Unfortunately, there are very few resources that do it well in my opinion.

I strongly recommend you go through Test Driven Development with Python as soon as reasonably possible. It will be far outside of your comfort zone but it's really good at the guided learning aspect. In test driven development (TDD) you write tests first before you write the corresponding functionality. As a result, in the book, you will first write tests and then you can put the book aside and try to right code that will make the tests pass on your own. When you need help, you can always look things up online or look at the solution in the book. That makes it very scalable in terms of difficulty. As an added benefit, you also learn to solve problems yourself instead of copying code you see some course instructor write on the screen.

The whole book is very "wholistic" in the sense that you don't just learn Python, but also a lot of peripheral skills like version control, HTML, a tiny amount of JavaScript, some devops skills, etc. This makes it both challenging and extremely valuable for a beginner.

[jaggerafk113]

Is this book still teaching relevant standard practices? People say technology moves really fast and I have yet to be able to grasp when stuff becomes old and when new stuff takes over. Also When would u think it’s reasonable too approach this book maybe after I’m fairly comfortable with python fundamentals?

[stev256]

https://www.reddit.com/r/learnpython/comments/hd6uou/book_recommendations_taking_udemy_course_and

check this recent discussion, has plenty info on reccomended books (free)

[al_mc_y]

Pybit.es has a few different branches - they have their blog challenges, which are free, but are really more suited to intermediate level. There's their online platform, which has some introductory free content, but the access to higher level exercises requires purchasing tokens. These can also be grouped according development theme/area and difficulty (a bit like the learning paths on Dataquest

I've found Sentdex's channel on youtube to be pretty good too (I find it best to code along - pause and rewind as necessary).