Intro Python: Fundamentals

About the Course

Python is one of the most popular languages in the world, widely used in areas as diverse as data science and machine learning, devops, web development, and automated testing. Stack Overflow reports that it’s not only the most popular language on their site, but also the fastest growing language.

The world’s best-known companies are rapidly adopting Python. I know, because just about every day, I go to such companies (e.g., Apple and Cisco), and teach Python to their staffs. These companies are always looking for people who know Python — but because such people are hard to find, they bring me in to train their existing developers.

My students are typically experienced with C, C++, C#, and Java. So they know how to program, but they don’t know Python. I sometimes say that they can program in Python, but with a Java accent — meaning, they might know how to get things done, but not in the most efficient or “Pythonic” way.

This course covers the very basics of programming in Python: Syntax, conditionals, core data structures, and loops. Python developers use these concepts every single day, whether they’re writing a tiny script by themselves or a major application with a large bunch of colleagues. A strong understanding of these ideas, and how to apply them in practice, is a crucial part of working with Python.

It’s common for people with a background in Java or C# to scoff a bit at the builtin data structures. After all, Python has objects — why waste your time with lists, tuples, and dicts when you create your own classes? But of course, Python objects are built out of lists, tuples, and dicts, so knowing how to work with them is critical. Moreover, those builtin data structures are fast and flexible, and often obviate the need to create y our own class.

If you’re an experienced developer who has always wanted to learn Python, this is the best starting point I can think of. I’ve given this course hundreds of times, to thousands of developers around the world. I’ve honed my explanations to ensure you’ll get the most out of it. And there are lots of exercises, all designed to help you think like a Python developer.