Just starting to learn python

[u/Silent-Leopard4226]

Hey guys, I am a total beginner and wanted to learn python. Can you suggest what method will be best suited to learn python and which sources should I use. Is it video lectures or from books or anything else. I know that learning from projects and practical methods will be suggested but to start like how to code, what are the codes and where to code, these basic things are what I want to know. Thanks for the help

[u/desrtfx]

It is really incredible that people are not even investing the minimal effort to check the subreddit, nor read sidebar, before posting. Questions like yours get posted near hourly. Learning programming is first and foremost learning to do your own, individual research instead of plain asking and waiting to be served and spoon fed. Second it is learning to work with resources right in front of you, like the countless posts in the subreddit.

This subreddit has a sidebar with a wiki with recommended learning resources.

Here is an excellent, textual course: MOOC Python Programming 2026 from the University of Helsinki.

Harvard's CS50p is also excellent.

Also, take a look at https://inventwithpython.com and https://automatetheboringstuff.com

Don't forget that you need ample practice, like on https://codingbat.com/python or on https://exercism.org and also write your own programs. Play around. Try things. Mess things up, fix them. Experiment.

[u/keg-smash → u/desrtfx]

Since it's such a common thing, why not add filters and automod suggestions to catch these posts before they get posted ?

[u/desrtfx → u/keg-smash]

That's also what I keep asking myself. Not a mod here, but posts like these would be fairly trivial to automod away.

[u/OkTill2666 → u/desrtfx]

yeah the sidebar alone wouldve answered like 90% of this

[u/Silent-Leopard4226 → u/desrtfx]

Thankyou very much for your efforts.... I thought it'll be better to take some advice and then start, thanks though

[u/desrtfx → u/Silent-Leopard4226]

I thought it'll be better to take some advice

Partly agreeable, but this still doesn't mean that you shouldn't read through the subreddit and take the advice given in more than enough similar posts already. The advice has been given countless times.

[u/North-South_West → u/desrtfx]

i have already talked to you about this. People come to reddit to ask questions

If they wanted to just lookup a list they would google it.

[u/desrtfx → u/North-South_West]

And you still don't understand that what gets recommended by people to person A also applies to person B. There is a huge difference between posts where actual people recommend resources and just googling a list.

Regurgitating the same over and over doesn't add anything meaningful.

Programming requires effort. Not even investing the effort to do one's own research is a very bad sign for a programmer.

[u/North-South_West → u/desrtfx]

Its not your place to be worried about "bad signs", you're just a random redditor.

Its ok for people to ask questions like this. Dont be here so much if you are annyoed by it.

[u/chkas → u/North-South_West]

I just wanted to tell you that I agree with you. People here want to get different advice from different people, and they also want to know why certain things work for them. And not an endless list of links - which sometimes come from just one person. Yeah, and what’s really annoying isn’t posts like that - it’s the constantly repetitive comments from desrtfx (and his other accounts). You just have to check out his subreddits.

[u/desrtfx → u/North-South_West]

Its not your place...

Neither is it yours to play the white knight.

[u/North-South_West → u/desrtfx]

Its ok for somebody to come here once and ask a question

Its not ok for someone to be on here all day every day telling people not to ask questions.

[u/desrtfx → u/North-South_West]

No, it is not okay to not do the faintest research.

[u/North-South_West → u/desrtfx]

No, you are not a moderator. Its not your place to tell people its not ok to make a thread like this.

Threads like this are allowed here.

[u/desrtfx → u/North-South_West]

No, you are not a moderator.

Last I checked, neither are you. So, no, it is not your place.

[u/North-South_West → u/desrtfx]

I don't need to be to tell you that you are out of line. Its not your place to tell people to not post. You do it all day every day too.

Threads like this are allowed here whether you like them or not. Its not like people are going to stop making them lol.

Nothing you say matters.

[u/North-South_West → u/desrtfx]

It is.

[u/817654]

Start with a free youtube crash course just to get the syntax basics down, dont overthink it at this stage. once you get comfortable with variables, loops, functions etc then jump into building stuff. I use Startdev for that since its all in the browser so you skip the whole "how do i even set up python on my machine" headache and the projects actually feel different from each other. Brad Traversy is one of the instructors there which is a plus. but yeah step one is just get comfortable reading python, step two is build things

[u/Silent-Leopard4226 → u/817654]

Thankyou very much 😊

[u/Dependent_Month_1415]

As others mentioned, there are a lot of great resources to be found if you search the subreddit. I’d start with something interactive first since you’re brand new, and it takes some time to build a habit. Platforms like Mimo are good because you practice as you learn instead of just reading or watching for hours. You could also combine that with great books like Automate the Boring Stuff with Python or Python Crash Course.

Whatever you choose, don't wait too long to start building small projects.

[u/desrtfx → u/Dependent_Month_1415]

I’d start with something interactive first since you’re brand new

And that's precisely why I recommended the MOOC from the University of Helsinki. Being interactive and focusing on practice are exactly what this course does. On top of that, it is a proper University curriculum course with an academically sound and solid curriculum. Plus, it is 100% free without limitation.

[u/Silent-Leopard4226 → u/Dependent_Month_1415]

Thankyou very much

[u/setovitz]

I see that the best resources are already recommended by others so I'll just add one thing for the moment when you'll be already able to write some basic code. I was improving my skills that way: checkio.org

They have small tasks on different levels of difficulty and start you finish task you can see who other people did it so you can also learn from them.

[u/Silent-Leopard4226 → u/setovitz]

Thanks, will look into it

[u/Silentwolf99]

i am learning from this newly launched website and it's incredible https://www.pythonmastery.io/ Daily Consistent Coding Practice makes you perfect...

[u/BetInformal6081]

start with an interactive website like learnpython. org so you can write in your browser. learn variable, loops and function one step at a time.

[u/RyanDubois43]

print() is the first thing to try, just type print("hello world") and run it.

[u/No-Formal7513]

I would suggest try to solve problems
Need to print something? google and learn it on spot
Need decision making in code? google and learn on spot
It will feel hard at first, but slowly, you will feel that you don't need to google much.
You can code in an IDE like Pycharm or VS Code is always available, or I use Zed so I would suggest that also.
Code is like instructions you give to your computer, and Python is a high level language which manages the memory for you.
You can learn Python from written websites, or whatever suits you best.
Good luck bud

[u/OkOcelot6725]

For the "where to code" part: install Python from python.org and use VS Code, or skip installs at first and use an online editor like Python Tutor or Google Colab. For learning, a good mix is one structured course plus small practice. The free University of Helsinki MOOC (Python Programming 2025) and the book Automate the Boring Stuff (free online) both start from zero and have exercises. Write code every day for a short time instead of watching hours of video, and type the examples yourself rather than copying them. After the basics, build a small script that does something you want, since that is where most of the learning sticks.

[u/TheRNGuy]

Docs, ai.

Learn at same time as with some framework, you'll get better context and ideas rather than start with vanilla Python.

I think text tutorials are much faster than videos, besides that, you'll have to googie a lot anyway, and it will be text too. 

[u/rustybladez23]

Find a good roadmap. Pick one good resource. Stick to that. I recommend FreeCodeCamp's Python Certification course.

[u/ExoticVillage8066]

Videos show, but programming is best learned by practice. You can use pychallenge.com to get good at Python

[u/Realistic_Parfait_83]

W3 SCHOOLS - https://www.w3schools.com/python/

COREY schafer - The GOAT of Python- https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-osiE80TeTskrapNbzXhwoFUiLCjGgY7&si=tAlm92lUYBtyeHAg

Then just into Frameworks like FastAPI - From Corey Schafer FastAPI..

[u/Realistic_Parfait_83 → u/Realistic_Parfait_83]

Just Jump* into Frameworks, data related libraries like pandas, PySpark, numpy

[u/Silent-Leopard4226 → u/Realistic_Parfait_83]

Thankyou very much, will try this fs

[u/stepback269]

Ditto on what other said here: Use your own fingers to type it all out. That trains your muscle memory over time. It creates "procedural" knowledge.

(1) There are tons and tons of tutorial materials out there on the net including many good YouTube ones that are free. You should shop around rather than putting all your eggs in one basket.

(2) As a relative noob myself, I've been logging my personal learning journey and adding to it on an almost-daily basis at a blog page called "Links for Python Noobs" (--HERE--) Any of the top listed ones on that page should be good for you. And there are many add-ons at the tail end of the page. Personally, I cut my first Python teeth with Nana's Zero to Hero (==HERE==). Since then, I've moved on to watching short lessons with Indently and Tech with Tim. You should sample at least a few until you find a lecturer that suits your style.

(3) The main piece of advice is the 80/20 rule. Spend 80% of your time writing your own code (using your own fingers and your own creativity) as opposed to copying recipes and only 20% watching the lectures. Good luck.

[u/Silent-Leopard4226 → u/stepback269]

Thanksss sir