Videos
Rule No. 1: You are going to be extremely confused in the beginning. You are going to go through phases of excitement, and you will get ahead of yourself. At some point after learning the syntax you will be lost, and not know what the heck to do. LUCKILY I've been there, and I know the way out of that mess and Here it is. DO NOT GIVE UP, I promise you that it sinks in.
Rule No. 2: Focus. Do not begin learning Python, and then get excited and begin learning other languages. This is a mistake, I promise you. Take the time to focus on one language, and get good enough at it to build your own programs before moving on. If you do not do this, you are going to get confused and there is a chance you will just give up.
Rule No. 3: There is an efficient order to learning Python that I have found to be best. FIRST! Learn the Syntax. I recommend Codeacademy, for Python. There is a great community there as well if you get stuck. SECOND! Start attempting the small projects listed here. THIRD! Once you feel as if those projects are pointless, and you have lost interest in them, start exploring Python's libraries and modules, and begin to find an area you are interested in! FINALLY! Learn a new language that is closely related to your interests.
Rule No. 4: Always try to abide by this ratio. 70% of your time should be dedicated to coding. 30% dedicated to learning via tutorials, or what-have-you.
Good Luck!
[Edit 02/17/2016] The original playlist I provided as the first link in this post was removed, but I managed to find the exact same playlist by another user on YouTube and updated the link.
[Edit 06/2/2016] The playlist was taken down once more, however I have located another one and have updated the link above. I'll continue to update the post whenever someone messages me about it being broken if I can locate a new playlist.
[Edit 04/28/2017] The new playlist has been taken down again. To clarify, the playlist was a video tutorial series provided by Lynda.com. The author was Simon Allardice, and it was titled Objected Oriented Design. Here is the introduction video to it. I implore you to seek it out, it helped me and many others a lot.
[Edit 02/03/2018] I still get a lot of messages about the playlist being taken down. Please read the edits above. Thank you.
Somewhere I read that learning is a three-legged table:
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leg 1 is head knowledge -- reading books, watching tutorials and lectures, taking classes, etc.
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leg 2 is practice -- spending time coding, designing, doing.
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leg 3 is immersion -- getting into the culture of coding, spending time with people who code talking about coding. Join subreddits, forums, chat rooms, mailing lists. Go to meetups, coding sprints, conventions, etc. So many subtle and oft-overlooked bits of information are picked up this way, and it keeps you in the mindset of coding.
I find a good balance of these things keeps me moving forward as a software developer (or any other discipline I want to learn). Neglect one of these legs and I get stagnant.
I'm learning Python from scratch as I am fed up with my current employment conditions as a 23 year old with an unrelated college degree. I'm half way through Learn Python the Hard Way and am confident in my abilities so far. I'm on track for 2 examples a day as I work full time.
Would you change any of this for my scenario? I appreciate it anyways, I saved your post, subscribed to the YouTube channel and will be following closely over the next few months. Any help is appreciated :)
Hi there! I’m interested in learning Python and would love some guidance on how to get started. As a beginner, I’m looking for recommendations on the best resources, tutorials, and practices to follow. What are the essential concepts I should focus on initially, and are there any interactive platforms or communities that can help me along the way? Any tips or advice on how to effectively learn and practice Python would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Hello guys, I have zero experience in programming and I've been watching some videos to learn python. I came across the word tutorial hell, and how noobs like me fall into it and give up programming. Since you guys are already experienced in coding how would you suggest I should learn python the correct way.
Thank you.