In this course we are going to learn Python 3. This is a course for beginners who have never learned Python or any other programming language. No prior knowledge is required. The course will guide you through all the steps of learning Python. In this course we’ll be learning just the basics of the language. This should get you started.
In this course we’ll be using Python 3, so if you have any experience with Python 2, you should be aware that there are differences that make the two versions incompatible. This means code written in Python 2 in most cases won’t run in Python 3. So, if you have Python 2 installed, make sure to install Python 3 so that you can follow this course.
This course is available here on my blog and the video versions of the lessons are also available on my Prospero Coder YouTube channel, but don’t worry, you can watch them directly from here. Almost all lessons are available in both written and video form, there are just a few that are only available in written form.
There’s one more thing I need to say. I made this course in 2018, so I was using the version of Python that was available back then. This is why you’re not going to see the latest version of Python in this course. But this is not a big deal. As this is the beginner course, hardly anything has changed in the language itself since then and if there is something that has, I’ll let you know in due time. I didn’t update the course to the latest version of Python for two reasons. The first reason is what I just said, not much has changed as far as the very basics are concerned. The second reason is that I already have all the videos recorded and recording them again would be a huge waste of time because they would look practically the same.
Table of Contents
How To Use This Python Course
Now, how to use this course? It’s advisable to follow along with the course. The pace is quite fast, so, if necessary, feel free to pause the video, think about what you just learned and watch the video again. Also, even if you prefer the video lessons, why not read the written versions as well. This will make the stuff stick in your head even more.
Projects and Exercises
Try to write all the code by hand and this way you’ll get the first practice. Most of the lectures are accompanied by projects that you are supposed to do. Truth is, these projects are the crucial part of this course because it’s in these projects that you have to apply your theoretical knowledge to solve a simple practical problem. So, don’t skip any of the projects. The course contains 80 lectures and 70 projects, so you’ll have plenty of opportunity to practice.
Also, there are going to be exercises from time to time. They will contain both theoretical questions and practical problems. Make sure you can answer most of the questions and solve all the problems before moving on to the next lesson.
Some Hints
So, to sum it up, I suggest you follow the following steps for each lesson:
1) Optionally, watch the video once or a couple of times to get familiar with the topic.
2) Read the written version of the lesson, even if you’ve watched the video.
3) Do the exercises if there are any.
4) Try to do the project. If it’s too hard, look at the solution and analyze it step by step so that you understand what’s going on. Then you can try to do the project on your own.
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Curriculum
Here’s our curriculum. The course consists of 11 sections:
1 – Introduction: In this section you’ll experience your first contact with Python. You’ll install Python itself and a working environment. You will also get familiar with some basic terminology like input and output, variables, statements, conditional statements or loops. At the end of this section we’ll make a short introduction to data types and operators.
2 – Numbers: In this section we’ll start our discussion of data types in Python. In this section we’ll be talking about numeric data types, but also about arithmetic operators, mathematical functions, assignment operators and random numbers.
3 – Strings: In this section we’ll be talking about strings, which are used to work with text. We’ll learn the basic operations on strings and string methods. Also, we’ll see how to format strings.
4 – Lists and Other Sequences: In this section we’ll be talking about lists, which are a very flexible data type that we can use to work with collections. We’ll learn the basic operations on lists and list methods, we’ll learn how to copy lists. Besides lists we’ll also discuss tuples and ranges in this section.
5 – Other Data Types and Operators: In this section we’ll cover all the other basic data types like dictionaries, sets and booleans. We’ll also discuss logical and identity operators, data type conversions and operator precedence.
6 – Flow Control: In this section we’ll be talking about conditional statements, the ternary if statement, loops and list comprehensions.
7 – Functions: In this section we’ll talk about functions, about all the different types of parameters they can take, but also about scope and lambda expressions.
8 – Object Oriented Programming: In this section we’ll talk about the object oriented approach. We’ll discuss classes, objects, encapsulation, inheritance, polymorphism, properties, all the different types of attributes and methods and tons of other stuff.
9 – Modules: In this section we’ll talk about modules. We’ll learn how to import modules and how to create our own ones.
10 – Files: In this section we’ll learn how to work with files in Python. In particular we’ll learn how to read from files and write or append to them. We’ll also discuss context managers.
11 – Exceptions: In this final section we’ll talk about errors and exceptions. We’ll learn how to handle exceptions in a graceful way.
And now let’s get to work. See you in lesson 2 where we’ll be talking about the Python programming language in general.