Beginner Python Resources Recommended by the Tech Community
Tags: beginners, python
Published: 2019-07-11 21:17:49

---
title: Beginner Python Resources Recommended by the Tech Community
published: true
description: Wondering where to begin with learning Python? Here are some beginner-friendly resources recommended by the tech community.
tags: beginner, python
cover_image: https://thepracticaldev.s3.amazonaws.com/i/0rfxoljkh2n9zmbt70eb.jpg
---

Besides the occasional dive into PHP, I've only ever worked with JavaScript. I went to a bootcamp for front end engineering and work as a UI engineer so I've never really had the need to look into any other languages. Lately, I've been interested in learning more about Python so I sent out the following tweet and received some great resources about where to begin! 

{% twitter 1148400535822884864 %}

Here are some of the beginner-friendly Python resources that were recommended to me.

## Free College Courses

[edX's Introduction to Computer Science and Programming Using Python](https://www.edx.org/course/introduction-to-computer-science-and-programming-using-python-2)
This is a 14-16 hour/week course that lasts 9 weeks and is provided by MIT. The course is free but you can pay $75 for graded exams and assignments as well as a certificate.

[Carnegie Mellon University's Fundamentals of Programming](https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~112/schedule.html)
By the end of the course you'll be able to read, write, design and debug Python code.

## Online Resources

[The Modern Python 3 Bootcamp](https://www.udemy.com/the-modern-python3-bootcamp/)
The course includes 29.5 hours of videos as well as downloadable resources, over 121 articles and 135 coding exercises. Udemy courses regularly go on sale so keep an eye on this one if you're interested in taking it!

[Real Python](https://realpython.com/)
Various tutorials that allow you to learn Python from the ground up.

[Python Crash Course by Traversy Media](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJmcL1N2KQs)
Covers Python basics in an hour and a half.

## Books

[Learn Python the Hard Way by Zed Shaw](https://www.amazon.com/Learn-Python-Hard-Way-Introduction/dp/0321884914)
You'll work through 52 coding exercises when reading through this book. It also includes a DVD with 5+ hours of teaching.

[Automate the Boring Stuff with Python by Al Sweigart](https://www.amazon.com/Automate-Boring-Stuff-Python-Programming-ebook/dp/B00WJ049VU)
You'll learn how to write programs that take minutes to complete what normally would take hours by hand. No prior coding experience is necessary before reading!

[Dive Into Python 3 by Mark Pilgrim](https://www.amazon.com/Dive-into-Python-Mark-Pilgrim/dp/1430224150)
Each chapter starts with a real code sample which is broken down and explained.

## Streams

[Learning Python from Scratch with Brian Clark and Cecil Phillip](https://www.twitch.tv/clarkio)
Brian and Cecil stream every Wednesday starting around 11 am ET where they document their journey learning Python.

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Have another great beginner-friendly Python resource? I'd love if you left it in the comments below!

Be sure to follow me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/karaluton) for lots of posts about tech, and if I'm being honest, lots of posts about dogs too.