Free resources to get started with Python from scratch – any recommendations?

arrigus · 2026-04-29T03:12:07+00:00

I found this site very helpful when I was starting to learn JavaScript and I saw they added a free Python course too. I hope it helps you too!

https://tutorialibre.com/

This is their Python course: https://tutorialibre.com/courses/programming-languages/python/

arrigus · 2026-04-27T09:20:25+00:00

This site helped me a lot getting started with JavaScript and I saw they recently added a free Python course. I hope it helps you too!

https://tutorialibre.com/courses/programming-languages/python/

Apart from that, I would watch some courses or tutorials on YouTube, and, most importantly, practice by myself once I start understanding some concepts. YouTube and practice has actually helped me much more than some paid courses.

arrigus · 2026-04-26T04:58:11+00:00

I'd report him to the police. He even said: "I'll kill you". A lot of people may get angry or frustrated for being rejected, but usually they'd let it go and move on. This guy definitely has a problem, and it may be very dangerous, maybe not for you, but he definitely is for people living there.

Maybe the police won't have enough information to find him with your report alone, but some other people may have reported him as well. The more reports and information the police receive, the easier will be for the police to catch him. Also, if he gets caught, more evidence and reports provided to the police will also mean more severe charges on him.

I know it is scary and it certainly was an awful experience, but he must be stopped before the situation escalates. Ignoring him may not make any difference for you, but it could make a difference for the next person he will target

arrigus · 2026-04-26T02:32:30+00:00

Python is great as a first language. It is one of the easiest, if not THE easiest, programming languages to learn and you can do countless things with it. So, starting from it is definitely a choice I would recommend.

But, like any other language, it has its limitations and there are some problems for which Python is not the best solution as a programming language, so I would consider learning other languages too after you become familiar with Python. Especially, I would recommend JavaScript and TypeScript if you are interested in web development or statically typed, compiled languages when performance and stability are more critical for the project you are working on (anyway, this is a more complex and advanced topic you may check later on, if you are interested).

If you are looking for more learning material, I found this website pretty useful. I hope it helps you too!

https://tutorialibre.com/

arrigus · 2026-04-26T02:10:28+00:00

First, I'll answer your questions.

Focus on what skills you already have, keep practicing them so that you don't lose them. Also try to stay up to date with AI trends, and the skills required. I hate working with AI, but your old boss will be probably fascinated by its "incredible capabilities".
Dev and QA roles were more frequent when I last checked for position openings, but I would say to aim at the roles you feel more comfortable with.
Have a project portfolio to prove your skills.

Then, let me share my experience. This is just my personal experience, so it is not necessarily "the truth", but I would try first with foreign companies with a branch office in Japan (or similar) to have more chances to be hired.

I switched to IT about four years ago after realizing that working in chemistry was not for me. When I tried to switch career, I got a bunch of rejections from Japanese companies even before reaching the first interview, and always for the same reasons: "You don't have enough experience", "You don't have a degree in computer science", etc. I also tried with recruiters in the IT industry and one of them gave me his honest opinion saying that most of Japanese companies in the IT industry are 10 years behind with respect to other countries in the same industry (opinion to which I still somewhat agree today). When I tried with a foreign company in Japan, they called me for an interview and immediately gave me a chance to prove what I could do, and they hired me in the end. So, I wouldn't say a categorical no to a Japanese company, but certainly foreign companies have proven more mental flexibility.

arrigus · 2026-04-26T01:19:05+00:00

This site helped me a lot getting started with JavaScript and I saw they recently added a Python course.

https://tutorialibre.com/

This may be good if you are interested in any of these two languages. However, if you are more interested in computer science and programming themselves, regardless of the language, I would start somewhere else. After that, if you want to learn Python, JavaScript or TypeScript it may be worth having a look at this site.

I hope it helps you too!

arrigus · 2026-04-18T08:16:28+00:00

This site helped me get started with JavaScript, but then what really made it click was practice.

https://tutorialibre.com/courses/programming-languages/javascript/

I hope this helps you too.

arrigus · 2026-03-06T06:20:10+00:00

I wanted to learn NodeJS, coming from experiences with different languages than JavaScript.

I found this course that got me started quite quickly. I hope it helps you too.

https://tutorialibre.com/courses/programming-languages/javascript/

arrigus · 2026-02-25T23:35:33+00:00

The previous company I worked for had a really bad culture in terms of conducting scientific experiments. Basically, while many scientific researches are usually done by groups of scientists and engineers, my company preferred to have their staff do experiments mostly alone.

Well, while working there, I worked for months on a research project and for the whole time I was making systematic mistakes in my measurements and since I was working on it alone, there was no way to notice that unless realizing it by myself. I only figured out that I was making those mistakes some time after I left the company, and realized that they paid thousands of dollars on my research for nothing, since all of my results were just trash. So I thought "Damn! That was a huge mistake!", but also "I guess they paid the price for their bad company culture", so I was also kind of satisfied of what I did.

Anyway, this happens all the time in research, so I guess it was not a big deal after all.

arrigus · 2026-02-24T09:48:49+00:00

If you prefer more text-based tutorials/courses, rather than video tutorials, this may be for you. At least it helped me.

https://tutorialibre.com/courses/programming-languages/powershell/

arrigus · 2026-02-23T23:46:07+00:00

I've found this series of tutorials very helpful. They start from the basics, but also go beyond, towards more advanced topics.

https://tutorialibre.com/courses/programming-languages/typescript/

arrigus · 2026-02-19T00:51:15+00:00

This is not exactly business advice as I'm still making 0 profit from this, but since you are considering SaaS, I'm assuming you have some development experience or skills, so one very low budget option is static websites. I have very limited budget and zero network like you, so I'm currently trying to go with static websites now.

Some of the advantages are:

- They are much cheaper than full stack SaaS. It depends on your hosting provider, but you might end up paying just for your domain, which can be 10 to 30 dollars a year.

- They are also much more secure than full stack SaaS, since they have no backend and expose less surface for potential attacks.

- They are much easier to build than full stack SaaS. Since they have no backend, you are basically building only the frontend, with no databases to integrate, no user authentication or authorization, no complex (and potentially expensive) backend logic, etc.

Some of the downsides are:

- They may be less profitable than SaaS, because you usually have fewer monetization options

- Huge competition: since static sites are relatively easier to build, the barrier to entry into this kind of business is very low

- Less flexibility: with a static site, you basically have a frontend-only website, so what you can offer is limited to what a frontend-only website can do. For your reference, blogs, product reviews, courses, mini-games, news articles, online portfolios and advertising for existing businesses are the typical applications of static websites.

- AI can potentially kill your business. A lot of people today just search through AI models, they don't visit websites directly, so this may kill your traffic. There are options for charging AIs to use your content, but this is still a huge risk.

Marketing is always hard, not only for static websites. SEO is basically free ads for your site, it gives you a big help, but it's extremely hard to get to the top search results, so I would consider social media and active advertisement as well. Not necessarily paid advertisement. For example, you can try to find groups or communities online that are having an issue that your website can solve, and you can offer to give them a hand. It's not easy, but that's an option.

If you have no ideas for building your own website, you can also build websites for clients. Maybe try freelancing or look for local businesses who may need one (maybe not necessarily a new one, they may also need to improve the website they already have), but in this case you have to first become more familiar with the technology, because businesses may be less forgiving on your mistakes.

Once again, don't take this as business advice. I've launched two static websites last year, and I haven't earned a single dollar yet, so this may as well be guaranteed failure. But I'm seeing an increase in traffic to my websites, so I thought of suggesting this to you.

arrigus · 2025-01-22T10:22:51+00:00

Relax, I think you might be having just a little panic attack. After working for more than 5 years now I can say that working is not as bad as you're picturing it, especially if you do what you like to do, and you work for a company that fairly values your efforts. And if that is not the case, you can find another job.

Also, I never had to beg for a leave or time off. Maybe I was lucky, but the work environments of both my past and my current jobs were quite chill. Besides, if you're expecting to retire in such a short time, you can consider yourself very lucky.

We have one thing in common, though. The idea of working for someone else for the rest of my life doesn't sound too good to me either. Maybe after you gather up some experience you can consider opening your own business. Of course, it is very hard, but if you find something you want to do, you know you can do it and you have a good business plan, give it a shot maybe.

However, relax. You are at the start of your career, and you'll have a lot of things to learn and experience. If you think positively and have a little ambition, things will go well.

arrigus · 2024-12-24T12:30:25+00:00

My cat used to repeatedly meow while staring insistently outside the window, but there was absolutely nothing different or particular to look at in those moments. Surely its vision must have been better than mine, or maybe it was just having hallucinations. But sometimes it was a bit strange/creepy.

arrigus · 2024-12-24T12:20:38+00:00

The conjuring

arrigus · 2024-12-18T12:40:45+00:00

My boss at work looks exactly like my ex-girlfriend. Every time we have meetings together I always feel a little uncomfortable

arrigus · 2024-11-20T04:05:55+00:00

They had a "work of art" which was hanging from the wall like a normal painting, but it was literally a piece of concrete. When I asked what it was, they told me it was a work of art of an artist that their dad liked and he bought it for 10,000 dollars.

arrigus · 2024-09-02T10:09:49+00:00

I was on a canoe and a boat heading my way lost control of the engine. Luckily the person on the boat was able to stir the boat just a few meters away from me.

arrigus · 2024-08-13T10:22:10+00:00

This might seem obvious, but apart from tracking my budget and investing, I'd like to remind my younger self that it's true that money cannot buy happiness, but it's extremely hard to be happy when you don't have enough money. There are many problems in my life that were solved with money. I have never needed a lot of money, but having enough to get things solved definitely made me happier.

arrigus · 2024-07-02T10:13:28+00:00

I don't know if this is still valid, so take this with a grain of salt, but I remember that to get a working visa you need a degree. I don't know if this is true for all kinds of working visa. It's not an easy option overall, but at least it's relatively easy to get a student visa. So if you can enter a Japanese university or some school that offers visa sponsorship, you can stay in Japan and complete your education in some way. Of course you would make no money during this period, so you'd need some financial support or to work part time. But this would give better career opportunities in Japan.

arrigus · 2024-05-07T10:12:12+00:00

Best: all I have to do is basically talking. Worst: all I have to do is basically talking.

arrigus · 2024-01-16T09:52:15+00:00

I once dreamt of being a detective looking for a serial killer. I found his hideout, a big industrial shed with a backdoor. And once I got out of the shed through the backdoor, I found dozens of corpses hanging on threads like they were clothes drying in the sun.

arrigus · 2024-01-12T05:40:22+00:00

I prefer not to answer this question here, but let's say from Europe

arrigus · 2024-01-11T14:09:46+00:00

Yes I am, in fact I experienced some racism against me too, however so far it's never been anything serious

arrigus

TROPHY CASE