A List of 50+ Great Free Resources to Learn Python: Books, Online Courses, Tutorials and more

For all beginning programmers, from computer science students to those aspiring to be in the technical field, there are tons of great, online resources to take advantage of-- ranging from books to online courses and tutorials to social networking spaces. And the best part, they're absolutely free.

8 FEB 2021 • MIN READ

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
    1. Best Programming Books for Python
    2. Best Online Courses for Learning Python
      3.1 Fundamentals Courses
      3.3 Data Science/Machine Learning Courses
      3.4 Web Development Courses
  2. Best Python Project Tutorials
    4.1 Full Project Tutorials
    4.1 Projects with Source Code
  3. Python Communities and Social Media Hubs
  4. Best Websites for Python Coding Exercises
  5. Other Top Miscellaneous Python Articles
    5.1 Python Applications
    5.2 Python Career Resources

Introduction

Living in the day and age of the internet, we're able to access an abundance of resources that we never could have before with a touch of a button and a swipe on the screen. Students are uniquely poised to take advantage of it, either to supplement the education they recieve in their schools and universities or simply to pursue their curiosities and passions.

For students and new graduates (of course not just limited to them), particularly those aiming to be in the technical field, there are tons of free resources available out there– ranging from books to online courses and walkthroughs to social media chains and networking spaces.

While there are many resources out there, it's often difficult to navigate through them all and choose the ones that might support your needs the best. Fear not, for all you computer science majors, engineering students, exploring graduates or anyone else, that is what this article will help you do.

Since we can't cover every facet of programming, we'll focus on the best resources to learn and explore one of our favorite programming languages, Python. And another thing, all the resources below are absolutely free.

The Best Programming Books for Python

A full guide to Python language for all beginners. From the website itself, "if all you know about computers is how to save text files, then this is the book for you."

As a "desert island" Python book, each chapters shows you a treasure of code, breaks it down, and the connects it all together.

Explore Python the hard way, which is through cleverly crafted exercies and problems. Then understand the solution and its implications.

A less intense and more real-time approach to Python – this book teaches you how to automate all those tedious, time-consuming things that you manually do on your computer.

Automate the Boring Stuff– One of the Best Introductory Python Books. Source: Amazon

Diving into data exploration, this book introduces Python programming through analytical and computational thinking.

Another great beginner's guide to Python that starts from values and variables and ends with data structures and algorithms.

The Best Way to Learn Python Online (all free to enroll in!)

Fundamentals/Beginner Courses:

Data Science/Machine Learning Courses:

Web Development Courses:

If you feel comfortable enough with these technical concepts and tutorials and ready to put your skills to use, check out some of the 10+ guided project walkthroughs on The Codex and start building something of your own.

The Best Python Project Tutorials & Walkthroughs

Full Project Tutorials:

  • Python Projects - Programmer Books by Laura Cassell and Alan Gauld is a great written resource for those who want to learn the tricks and tools to start building projects.
  • Invent with Python by Al Sweigart (the one from Automating Boring Stuff above) is similar for those ready to start creating something tangible: games in Python.
  • Machine Learning Projects in Python by Brian Boucheron Lisa Tagliaferri is a structured approach to setting up a Python Learning environment in AI/ML.

Project Tutorials with Source Code:

The table of contents of the programming projects repository – lots of places to get started from!

The Best Python Exercises Online

Some great websites for Python and other programming exercises to work through:

The Best Python Communities and Social Media Hubs

Worldwide Communities to Join:

(organizations for female college students and graduates aspiring to be in the technical/engineering field)

Girls Who Code is on a mission to close the gender gap in technology and to change the image of what a programmer looks like and does.

- Girls Who Code Mission

Subreddits (pretty great way to find likeminded people and great insights!):

  • r/Python – literally eveyrthing and anything about Python.
  • r/learnpython – more oriented to learning and the educational side of Python.
  • r/pythoncoding – for Python developers to share articles and discuss things relevant to Python
  • r/dailyprogrammer – daily challenges to learn, refresh skills, or just for fun.
  • r/csMajors – everything about studying compupter science.
Questions and answers you might see in r/csMajors.

For college students/ new graduates that want to branch out and integrate into a community to talk to, share resources, and learn from:

(not necessarily limited to computer science)

  • Ladder.to – the professional community platform for the next generation, for consulting to product management to tech.
  • Intern.club – The place to meet other interns, build your network, and make friends.
If you're currently trying to land a tech internship or starting to prep for one, check out this comprehensive guide here. Along with the best resources to prepare, find out how to approach the interview, customize your progress, and personalize your goals to get it.

The Best Python Article Picks

Python Applications:

What is Python Used For? Source: Stack Overflow

Python Career Resources

Python Career Possibilities. Source: edureka!

If you want to stay engaged with the technical world in a way that's just as enjoyable as educational, check out this article to check out some great reading  blogs, podcasts, social media handles, and news publications for programmers.

Conclusion

The natural progression to be complete programmer goes as follows: acquiring foundational knowledge, building technical expertise, and establishing credibility.

In the world we currently we live in, it's not hard to start on any of these steps. If your goal is to become a better progammer or simply begin your attempt to, check out some of these resources above. Instead, if you feel ready to move on from guides and tutorials, you can start taking those skills to create technical projects of your own here.

Not only are the books, online courses, websites, and some of the articles comprehensive and well-written, they're also free to go through. Once you start learning, you can join some of the numerous communities above and support your growth and others.

Hi– thanks for reading!

At The Codex, we want students to complement their foundational education of Python material with the building of practical, relevant, and functional projects. Visithttps://thecodex.me/ to actively mastering your Python skills in a fun and enjoyable way and make some great resume/portfolio additions :)

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